The Vytal Tournament
by TheHorologium
Summary: Team RWBY have been at Beacon Academy for two weeks now, and the Vytal Tournament is fast approaching. With everyone out to claim the title, how will the bonds between Hunters and Huntresses be tested? Who will reign supreme?
1. Dawn Over Beacon

As the curtains were drawn apart, tendrils of sunlight seeped through into the rustic office of Professor Ozpin. The room was filled with a gentle orange hue, which served to only increase the charming ambience of the quaint, oak office. The scent of old books and incense hung thick in the air. In an instant, such smells were overpowered by the sudden presence of strong coffee.

Professor Ozpin took the freshly prepared mug of black coffee in his hand, and took his first gulp of caffeine. He savoured the overwhelming kick of the beverage, opening his eyes as he stared through the large windows which covered the back of his office, behind his solid oak desk. Morning was breaking over Beacon Academy. Another day in the life of a headmaster. Only one student appeared to be present at such an early hour. A girl in white practiced in the training grounds, flowing through perfectly executed moves against a training dummy. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the most powerful company in Remnant.

Ozpin turned from the windows and sat at his desk, placing the coffee mug deliberately not on a coaster. Another ring formed on the desk, a desk which was_ covered_ with coffee rings, like craters. His longtime friend and colleague Glynda Goodwitch had long since given up on trying to get Ozpin to keep a clean workspace. Ozpin gave a weak smile as he pondered over the matter; he liked to think of his desk as _organised chaos_.

The Professor shuffled some papers and - eventually - found the file he was looking for. Keeping such notes electronically would be much easier, but Ozpin simply didn't have time to trasnfer the information from paper to his Scroll anyway. Ozpin flicked through the file of first year teams, stopping at the papers stamped 'TEAM RWBY'. He continued to cautiously pry through the papers until he reached the file of Weiss Schnee. A highly proficient rapier wielder with excellent control over her semblance, Glyphs, and her extensive knowledge and application of Dust on the battlefield only added to her combat prowess. Truly, she was an incredible force to be reckoned with. But then, so were several of the other first years who had arrived merely two weeks ago. Teams RWBY, JNPR and AZRE all showed considerable promise...and yet, one girl in particular was full of potential. She had been a one in a million find.

Ruby Rose was just 15 years old, but ranked just as highly as individuals such as the heiress in terms of her abilities. She was naive, excitable and hyperactive...she was also confident, loyal and lethal. This remarkable girl was backed up on her team by the Schnee daughter herself, the mysterious Miss Belladonna, and her boisterous brawler sister, Yan Xiao Long. Few teams were this well rounded, Ozpin mused to himself.

A slight smirk spread over Professor Ozpin's face. Surely, he had better pawns than his opponent.

The game was on.

* * *

Ruby Rose awoke to a silent dorm. She glanced to the right; her sister Yang slept in a sloppy heap on top of her duvet. At least she wasn't snoring, Ruby thought thankfully. Blake Belladonna, the beautiful and mysterious faunus girl, laid propped up against her pillow, reading fiction yet again. Finally, Ruby quietly hopped down from her death-hazard top bunk to check on her partner, Weiss. Only, her partner was not in her bed. Even the duvet had not been flawlessly folded back, as Weiss always did immediately after waking up. Ruby scrunched her face up, curious as to her whereabouts. _Weiss does act odd sometimes...but even this is unlike her, _Ruby wondered. _Weiss always makes sure to get nine hours of sleep every night, the only time she doesn't is to study for big tests._ There weren't any big tests coming up...so where was the heiress?

Ruby crossed over to the opposite bunk, climbing up to Yang's bed. Blake watched the younger sister with a smirk, shaking her head as she did.

''Is this a wise idea, Ruby?'' Blake said softly, still smirking. Ruby turned to face her mid-climb,a slight pout on her face.

''I need some help finding Weiss! And Yang might have an idea where she is, soooo...'', Ruby stopped to weigh up whether her soon-to-be actions were worth it, ''...yes. It's worth it!''. Ruby finished with a cheeky grin, turned back around and slowly prowled up her big sister's bed, taking care not to prematurely alert the blonde. Blake rolled her eyes, stifling a laugh, and returned to reading Ninjas of Love: The Passion Chronicles. Not before equipping a pair of ear-muffs onto her sensitive feline ears, however.

Ruby inched closer and closer along the bed, her sister still completely unconcious. Ruby's cheeky grin had grown to a mischeviously large, toothy smile as she lowered her head to a few inches from Yang's ear. Ruby drew in breath quietly.

Blake made sure the ear-muffs were tight on her ears.

A robin outside the window continued to chirp musically.

''YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!'' screeched Ruby into the bruiser's right ear. The power of Ruby's call reverberated through several dormitories. Team JNPR, asleep one dorm down from Team RWBY, all awoke flustered, Jaune falling off his bed in the process. The robin outside Team RWBY's window scarpered, flying as fast as possible in the opposite direction. Blake winced as Ruby's calling seemed to penetrate even these especially thick muffs...

Weiss Schnee lowered Myrtenaster to her side, glancing up at the tower where her team's dorm was. The echo of her partner's powerful (if unmusical) vocals spread across Beacon campus, even reaching Weiss herself in the training courtyard. Weiss scrunched her face up.

_ Ruby_.

With that singular thought in mind, she readied her rapier and attacked the dummy again, linking each move into another to form a flawless, lethal dance.

Yang panicked out of her dream to a monstrous screeching from her energetic little sister. Yang squealed as she awoke in frenzy, smashing her face into the ceiling above her, and immediately recoiling from the pain in her nose. Ruby Rose sat in front of her giggling in her pyjamas, waving like a dork at her. Yang sat up straight, ready to punch her sister across the room.

''RUBY ROSE, I am going to KILL you! This is the THIRD TI-'' Yang was cut off from her fiery rant as Ruby put a finger to her lips. Ruby's face also turned to a serious and determined expression, albeit adorable at the same time.

''Yang you need to help me, there's no time for sleeping in! We are in _grave jeopardy_!'' Ruby whispered dramatically. Yang rolled her eyes, still clutching her nose. It was difficult to stay mad at the little red chick for long.

''And what jeopardy might that be, annoying lil' sis?'' Yang replied, a little sternly.

''Weiss is missing, Weiss is MISSING!'' exclaimed Ruby, bouncing up and down on the bed as if she couldn't stay still a moment longer. ''She could be anywhere! What is she's been kidnapped? What if she quit the team? What if she was snatched by the Grimm and I wasn't there to save her?! Did YOU kidnap Weiss, Yang? Where did you put her?!''. Ruby continued her barrage of worried questions as Yang slid off her bed and down onto the floor. She casually approached the window as Ruby followed her - still questioning at 100 miles per hour - and the two of them were bathed in the orangey-yellow rays of dawn sunlight. Blake looked on at the two with an unsurprised grin; Blake humoured to herself the idea that if she could hook Ruby up to Vale's power grid. Vale could use her to replace Dust as an energy source.

''Right there.'' Yang said in her drowsy, unimpressed morning tone. Ruby stopped rambling for a second to gaze out of the window, her face pressed up against the glass like a child. ''Where? Where? WHERE?!'' shouted Ruby, before noticing her white haired partner in the training courtyard, practicing her moves in the cold morning air.

''...oh.'' said Ruby, her frenzied energy coming to a stop. Yang, still with an unimpressed and exhausted expression, turned lousily to return to bed. Ruby looked on at Weiss as she attacked multiple practice dummies, again and again, seemingly flowing like water from one to another. Her grace in battle always left Ruby in awe. Ruby finally looked away, much more calm now, and proceeded to gather some clothes from her drawers. Blake let out a single laugh as Ruby left the window.

''You...didn't think to check the window?'' Blake said incredulously.

''...I may have panicked. Just a little though! Not like _loads_!'' Ruby said, pouting as Blake continued to laugh quietly. ''Why is she up so early to practice though?'' whined Ruby, sitting on her bed with her head rested on her hands. She cared a great deal for her partner; sure, Weiss could be cold and harsh, but she knew that Weiss cared about her too, and that she just had trouble trusting people. After all, Weiss had saved her from a Deathstalker during initiation, and she'd warmed up to Ruby over the course of these first two weeks. Weiss had even been able to get past her troubles with Blake, which spoke volumes about how far Weiss would go if she was encouraged to let people be a part of her life.

''You know Weiss. She doesn't go easy on anyone...most especially, herself.'' replied Blake in her soothing voice. Ruby always found Blake the most re-assuring, for her calming tone in particular. ''Give her the space she needs, Ruby. Her abilities are part of her pride, and her pride is...well, pride is what Weiss was raised to value most, I guess.''

Ruby sulked a little. Weiss had had such a lonely life up until Beacon, this much she knew; it brought Ruby close to tears every time she thought of what Weiss's upbringing must have been like. Seventeen years spent alone, focused only on work and upholding a family name...she was given all the material wealth she could ever want, but she could never have company. Ruby sought to change all that, and make up for the years of loneliness any way she could. She peered out the window at the snowy haired beauty, still fencing with stationary targets in the distance. On her own.

_I'll train with you tomorrow, Weiss. No matter how early I have to wake up._


	2. The Determination of Winter

Weiss Schnee finally sheathed her trusted weapon, Myrtenaster. Panting slightly as she took a seat on a bench, Weiss closed her tranquil blue eyes and leant her head back slightly, relishing the cool morning breeze which brought her temperature down to a comfortably chilly normal. The wind flowed around her side ponytail and rolled over her white skirt gently. Opening her eyes again once again, she gazed over the grounds of Beacon Academy, which was only just beginning to stir with activity. Weiss allowed herself a smug grin as she watched a few students briskly walking across the campus. _And these people think that _they're _the early birds?_ The heiress removed the grin from her face accordingly, reverting to an icy, neutral expression, and stood to begin walking back to her dormitory. She felt that the last hour and a half had been a useful allocation of her time; allowing herself to become worn out in practice served to increase her overall endurance in battle. And as always, Weiss was quite content to work however many hours were necessary, make whatever sacrifices she needed to; for it had long been drilled into her that a Schnee always makes victory their primary focus.

The heiress reached her dorm's door, opening it quietly; before remembering that the almighty alarm clock known as Ruby Rose had already pulled most of this tower's residents out of their slumber. Weiss entered normally, abandoning stealth, and approached her bed. Blake sat calmly on her bed, reading...something which Weiss did not want to inquire about. Aside from this, Blake was the essence of tranquility as she flicked another page aside. Yang had crashed back into sleeping on her bed after Ruby's wake up call. Ruby herself was sprawled on the floor doodling, and to Weiss's dismay, it looked like another parody of Professor Port. Unimpressed, Weiss sat on her bed and was immediately set upon by the energetic red huntress.

''Weiss! You're baaaack!'' Ruby said with that infectious smile plastered on her face. Weiss had to restrain herself from returning it, as she fiddled with her own alarm clock. Yang seemed to groan, having been awoken by Ruby's loud voice again. ''Yes Ruby. Well observed.'' Weiss responded; sarcastically, but not harshly. Ruby was undeterred, however, having grown a thickened skin to the heiress's chilly nature. She skipped over and plopped herself next to Weiss on her bed, fascinated by Weiss's fiddling with the clock. ''Whatcha doing? Are you going to bed now? Why?'' came the usual flurry of questions; and as per usual, Weiss took the calculative approach, tackling each of her queries one by one.

''Setting an alarm, Ruby. Yes, I _am_ going to bed. I still have 44 minutes before I'll need to be up again to go to class, so I might as well catch some extra shut-eye.''. Ruby cocked her head to the side, and as cute as it was, Weiss dismissed the odd thought, ignored her, and laid her head down on her pillow. Ruby was still present on the bed, and she laid down on the bed too, facing Weiss. The heiress was taken aback a little, before sighing with a hint of agitation; she just wanted some extra sleep, she'd been training since 5:30 in the morning. Before the sun came up!

Ruby was laid down opposite Weiss, and she stuck a big smile on herself again. Weiss rolled her eyes, trying to move away from Ruby on the bed, but had only the wall to move into. ''Weiiiiisssss'' Ruby said, in that childish tone of hers, ''Why were you up so early training?''. A barely noticeable expression of worry appeared on the heiress's face. Ruby smiled harder, she had Weiss on the conversational defensive now. Blake removed the ear-muffs she had adorned earlier, intent on discretely absorbing whatever information was about to transpire. Weiss paused, just for a moment, to prepare her response. _To lie or tell the truth...I should have practiced somewhere out of sight,_ Weiss thought. There was no feasible way out of this without telling the truth, and Weiss regretted that her irritating red partner knew it too, that smug grin still across the pillow from her. Weiss sighed and relented.

''The Vytal Tournament, Ruby. I was practicing for the tournament that's coming up, may I remind you, in a week.'' said Weiss with a huff. Ruby stared blankly back for a moment, registering the words and then threw her hands around her partner, hugging her excitedly. Weiss responded with a sound of surprise as she was crushed in the young girl's enthusiastic embrace. Even Blake seemed a little puzzled.

''I'm SO excited Weiss! The tournament is going to be so so so SO COOL! So many hunters and huntresses, so many cool weapons, we're going to BEAT THEM ALL! We're going to train every day and win it ALL!'' exclaimed Ruby, along with a collection of other excited noises and incoherent ramblings. Weiss pondered for a second amidst the hugging and over-excitedness of her partner...did Ruby not understand how this tournament works? How ANY standard tournament works?

''Ruby...'' Weiss said, sighing. She paused to realise she was actually quite enjoying the one-sided cuddle. No. She dismissed the thought, repressed it. She came back to her senses and continued. ''Ruby, the tournament is a single participant entry format. You _do_ understand, don't you?''

Ruby pulled her head back to stare into Weiss's eyes blankly again, this time her face depicting a lack of understanding. Weiss sat up from the bed, forcing herself - no, _easily leaving_ the embrace of her partner, she corrected her mindset. The heiress sat on the side of her bed, posture perfect, and opened her mouth to further explain.

''Single participant entry is the standard format for tournaments in all of Remnant's regions. This means that every fighter is pitted in one on one fights against each other. It's the easiest methodology for crowning the _true _champion of the region.'' Weiss explained, simultaneously day dreaming about being declared the victor and a rapturous applause commending her. She snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Ruby. Who _still_ wore that blank face. Weiss couldn't believe the blend of this girl's stupidity and optimism. Perhaps that was what made her so dangerous, Weiss pondered.

''No tag teams, Ruby.'' said Blake from the opposite bunk, finally ending the red huntress's confusion. ''You can't team up with Weiss in your battles. If you choose to enter, just as I intend to,'' Blake nodded to Weiss mid-sentence, who gave a respectful nod back, ''you will fight one on one with whichever opponents you are matched against. Just like I won't be fighting alongside sleepy-head up there.'' Blake finished, looking with a pout up at her blonde partner, who had yet to awaken.

Ruby threw her head back to Weiss, who nodded, confirming the truth. For once, Ruby was speechless. Her desires to give Weiss company, to spend more time with her, seemed ruined in an instant. Ruby had been so thrilled about the idea of her and Weiss dominating the tournament together...and now, that thrill was but a memory. Ruby's face dropped into a solemn frown.

Weiss could not help but feel saddened for her partner; the hurt visible on her face was painful to the heiress too. She squeezed Ruby's hand softly for a couple seconds, who looked up still glum, before releasing and encouraging Ruby to stand up.

''You'd best get ready Ruby. Classes start soon.'' said Weiss, returning to her usual nature, ''Oh great, only 32 minutes left to nap now...'' she continued, resting back on her pillow. Ruby headed to the bathroom before turning and pouting.

''Don't _you _have to get ready too?'' Ruby questioned, a hint of sourness in her voice following the recent revelation.

''I'm already ready you dolt, don't you remember?'' replied Weiss from her bed, motioning to her combat skirt without so much as opening her eyes.

_Oh yeah, that's right,_ Ruby thought to herself glumly, dressing in the bathroom. _Weiss is already dressed. Because she was practicing for the tournament._

_The singles tournament._

* * *

Yang sighed loudly as she burst open the door of their dormitory, her team-mates following her inside. It had been a _long ass day_, Yang thought to herself. Too many notes to take, too many assignments to complete...and _far_ too many of Professor Oobleck's high velocity rants, coupled with _far_ too many of Professor Port's awful, awful anecdotes.

Yang climbed to her bunk and almost immediately fell asleep. Had it not been for this morning's rude awakening, she might not have been so exhausted...

Blake watched Yang's instant drop into sleep mode with amusement...but had to admit, she was pretty tired too. She elected to read over some of the material Oobleck had recommended, before she would retired to bed. With a slight sigh, Blake pulled out _Remnant: A Complete History _and settled down to begin her studying. This was a monster of a book, totalling around 2,200 pages. As much as Blake was a fan of reading, she dearly hoped she would not have to memorise this book's contents by the end of the year...

Weiss was, yet again, fiddling with her alarm clock, adjusting its time and ensuring the alarm would be just loud enough to wake her up, and her alone. Ruby watched sneakily from above on her own bed, noting the time Weiss set...and setting her own alarm similarly, except 15 minutes prior to Weiss's.

Weiss finished off a few notes in her notepad, and promptly changed into pyjamas, got between the covers of her bed, and drifted off to sleep. And Ruby Rose mirrored her.

* * *

_Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. _The drone of the alarm clock filled Ruby's ears and she mumbled incoherent complaints...before her senses returned to her, and remembered why she'd set the alarm so early. Panicking, Ruby slapped at the alarm clock, desperately trying to switch it off and prevent it from awakening her team-mates. In the end, Ruby opted to skilfully throw the stupid thing out of the dorm window which happened to be ajar. Three seconds later, Ruby heard a faint crashing noise. _Sheesh_, she thought. _I forget how tall this tower is! _Ruby checked her team; all were still asleep as far as she could tell. Even Blake, with her superior sense of hearing, remained still. Ruby sighed with relief, and began her task.

The young huntress moved at a snail's pace, obtaining her combat skirt and other attire from down below and slipping them on back on her bunk. She grabbed Crescent Rose from the foot of her bed - Ruby reasoned that she could never be too far from her 'baby'. Ruby estimated she had roughly 10 minutes before Weiss awoke. And so, Ruby Rose waited silently.

Eight minutes ticked by on Weiss's clock, before it faintly gave off a melodic sing-song. Ruby peered over the edge of her precariously dangerous bed, angling her eye so the rest of her face was still hidden. She watched as Weiss awoke and silently got out of bed, pulling her own combat skirt from under her pillow. She began to undress from her pyjamas and slipped into her attire, whilst Ruby watched shamefully from above. _Look away, this is really really rude!_ Ruby tried to tear her gaze away, but nevertheless kept watching, silently in a frenzy of confusion. _Why am I watching this?! This is my partner, not a boyfriend or something!_ Ruby twiddled her fingers, blushing like there was no tomorrow, completely lost in her conflicting emotions of guilt and...lust? _No! _Ruby buried the thought and finally tore her eyes away from Weiss's perfectly slender form. In doing so, Ruby bumped into the wall beside her, and froze in terror. She heard Weiss Schnee turn, though she dare not move a millimetre...Ruby waited. She heard Weiss turn back around and continue to get ready. Ruby listened; she dare not peek over her mattress again. The sound of the door creaking open and close caused the red huntress to spring into action, tip-toeing after the heiress.

Weiss strutted silently down the hallway towards the staircase. She lamented having to get up so early, as her groggy first step onto the stairs almost caused her to trip. Sleep was something the heiress valued greatly, even if she did not indulge in it as freely as some. The echoes of her boots clacking on the stairs bounced off the walls and interrupted the silence of the night rhythmically, as she descended the stairs and approached the exit to the first years' tower. She creaked the door open - _slowly,_ she reminded herself - and strode out into the freezing air of the September nighttime. The cold had little effect on the white haired girl, as it never had; the eerie glow of the shattering moon, however, was somewhat unnerving. Weiss was about to continue on towards the training courtyard, when the sound of shivering and chittering behind her triggered her to draw her sword and swirl around rapidly, assuming a defensive stance. A girl in a red cloak and hood stood before her, guilty written all over her face, like a deer in headlights. They stared at each other for a few moments; neither knew what to say, do, or not do. Eventually, the heiress cleared her throat.

''...Go back inside, Ruby.'' Weiss said calmly. She wasn't angry at Ruby. But this wasn't something she could allow Ruby to join her with, no matter how she felt. Ruby looked back at her, sorely disappointed.

''But Weiiiisss! I want to train with you!''. Ruby had those entrancing puppy dog eyes on again, the ones you really couldn't say no to. ''I know it's a singles tournament, I do...but...but that doesn't mean we can't practice together! We could be the best!''. Ruby paused a second, looked at Weiss, and decided to try another angle to convince her. ''I'll be better for training than those practice dummies in the courtyard ever will be, I promise you!''

Weiss seriously considered the prospect for a few moments. It was hard to refuse, she did love the thrill of practicing with a real opponent as skilled as she was. But the heiress knew. She knew why she was putting herself through this in the first place. Succumbing to what Ruby wanted - what Weiss _herself _wanted - simply wasn't feasible, given what the heiress was aiming for. She allowed herself to crack an affectionate smile towards Ruby.

Ruby watched as the snowy haired huntress gave her a warm smile. Her heart fluttered a second...Weiss truly was breathtakingly beautiful when she smiled. Weiss walked towards Ruby slowly, stood opposite her. She took Ruby's cheeks in her hands and kissed her on the forehead. Weiss looked at her with those blue eyes again, still smiling weakly, with one hand on Ruby's shoulder.

''I know you'd be a great opponent. But I'm sorry, Ruby.'' Weiss took in a breath and sighed. It wasn't a sigh of anger; Ruby had seen those, and recognised the difference. This was a sigh of...regret? ''I have to do this alone. You can't help. Get some rest...for me.'' Weiss finished, letting go of Ruby's shoulder, and disappeared slowly into the darkness, headed for the training grounds. Ruby stood alone, a melting pot of emotions, watching her partner leave. Ruby's hands hung at her sides, and she slowly turned to the door.

_But I'd do anything to help you...if you'd only let me in._


	3. Into the Fray

"Man I am _so_ pumped for this!" shouted Yang, lightly punching Blake on the shoulder. It still hurt a little...did that blonde not realise how much force those gauntlets of hers packed? Yang was just too excitable today...almost as bad as her sister.

Blake rubbed her shoulder a little to ease the ache. "Yang, I understand your...zealousness over this event, but please, try not to hit me or anybody _else_ in the queue? Please?". Blake gave the bruiser a stern look, and Yang returned it with a mock-serious gaze. Blake broke first; she laughed at Yang's stupid attempt to look anything but ecstatic. Yang followed suit, giggling as she jumped up and down on the spot. She literally had to work off the excess energy...and jumping seemed to help her.

Behind them in the queue stood Team JNPR, and Ruby, who was having a rare conversation with Ren.

"So Ren, what do you think your chances are in the tournament? I'm pretty stoked myself!" exclaimed Ruby, who was happily swaying between her two feet. Ren politely smiled. "My chances...are as good as anyone's, Ruby. But...there are a lot of strong competitors signing up for a tournament of this magnitude. Only natural, of course." Ren replied, as he looked up and down the long line of Beacon students queued outside Glynda Goodwitch's office. Ruby followed his gaze; he wasn't kidding.

Several familiar faces lined the corridor. Team CRDL, led by the ever repulsive Cardin Winchester, was present. Velvet Scarlatina was stood quietly and patiently further down, and just at the edge of Ruby's sight, she got a glimpse of..._Penny?!_ What was Penny doing here? Ruby knew that Penny wanted to compete in the tournament, but why was she applying through Beacon Academy?

Ren continued, breaking Ruby from her thoughts. "...and being a singles tournament, I have to worry about my own team, and yours too." Ren motioned to Pyhrra, Yang, Blake...and Nora. Jaune looked a little disappointed that Ren didn't motion to him, but kept his head held high regardless. Nora then took the opportunity to share her wisdom with the two of them.

"Oooooh Ren! I have a plan to make sure you don't get knocked out of the tournie! If anyone beats you, I'll drag them backstage and BREAK THEIR LEGS! Hee hee!" shouted Nora, a grin adorning her face. Ren shook his head in amazement. "I...don't think that that would bring me back into the tournament, Nora..." he replied, as Ruby smiled nervously, backing away slowly, and tried not to get mixed up in their world of madness. She returned to her sister and Blake's side as the queue moved up. Ruby looked to Blake inquisitively.

"Blake, is Sun joining the competition?" the red huntress asked, hands on her hips. Blake twitched her ears, apparently intrigued by the mention of his name.

"I...think so. Yeah, actually, he probably will." Blake replied with a warm smile. "He does have considerable skill, after all. He proved that much when he fought that Roman Torchwick guy...I could have been injured or worse had he not fought with me.". Ruby donned her thinking face, trying to think of ways she could beat Sun and his weapons, Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang. A staff which was a pair of nunchakus, which were a pair of shotguns...and he could use them _very _quickly. Ruby found Blake and Yang grinning at her. They could both see exactly what Ruby was thinking about.

"Don't worry sis, I'm sure you'll think of a strategy" Yang remarked, winking at her sister and ruffling her hair. Ruby only seemed to pout in reaction to being treated like this. She decided to go talk to Ren again, down the line.

"Next..." came Glynda's tired voice from her office. Blake turned, realising it was her turn to enter and sign up, and left the blonde and the red. After that, Yang went in; then Pyhrra, Jaune, Nora, Ren...then Ruby found herself the last of their little group to be waiting.

* * *

Ruby racked her brain over and over again as she slumped against the wall next to Glynda's office. _Where IS Weiss?_ It had been a couple days since she'd last talked to Weiss, in the middle of the night...when Weiss has given her a kiss on the forehead. Ruby lingered on the thought...just for a few seconds. It made her happy. Weiss made her happy. She shook her head, trying to get back to what was important.

Ruby knew that Weiss was entering, so where had she been? Ruby stood on her tip-toes as she had three times already, and looked over peoples' heads, looking for a trace of white ponytail; but nothing. _She must have signed up before us...but why? Why wouldn't she be with us to put her name down for the competition? _Ruby began to question her own involvement in the tournament. Did _she _want to even be part of this? She scowled to herself, a mixture of confusion and discontent. She snapped out of her troubles as Glynda called her through.

The red cloaked girl closed the door behind her and approached cautiously. She just didn't know what she wanted to do anymore. Glynda handed Ruby a pen, and tapped on the application form. Ruby scribbled her details down onto the paper in her usual nigh-unintelligible handwriting, and was just about to hand it over to the senior huntress, when she stopped. _Forget it_, Ruby thought, as she turned and prepared to drop the application form in the trash can.

Glynda looked sternly at the young girl, who avoided eye contact.

"Why are you doing that?" Ruby ignored her. Glynda sighed, exhausted from a full day of paper pushing. "This is about Weiss Schnee, isn't it, Ruby Rose?" The words tore at Ruby, the cookie-loving youngster turning to pout at her teacher. But Ruby couldn't find it within herself to lie, so she dodged around the words.

"What's the point in joining anyway? This tournament's a joke anyway, Professor!" Ruby exclaimed, gesturing with her arms in frustration. Ruby didn't truly believe a word she was saying...and Glynda could see through the thin veil of her question dodging.

"You didn't know about this being a singles tournament until very recently, did you?" Glynda postulated. Ruby's expression gave it away. "I'm not joining, Professor! And that's. My. Answer." Ruby folded her arms defiantly and turned to face somewhat away from Glynda, but continued on with somewhat more personal details. "She won't even train with me, Miss Goodwitch. What's UP with that?!" Ruby shouted, realising herself just how angry she was about being left alone.

"Well you'd better start forgetting about Weiss in this tournament," came Glynda's reply, to which Ruby turned slightly to listen, "because _Weiss_ has _already_ forgotten about_ you, _Ruby."

Glynda's final words hit Ruby like a freight train.

That hurt. That _really_ seemed to hurt. The young huntress felt hot blood flow through her cheeks and her silver eyes, fury and upset blending inside of her. Ruby bowed her head a little, still scowling, trying to hide the water brimming up on her eyes. She had no chance to recover the tear which rolled quickly down her cheek, however. Glynda did not regret her actions, this was the wakeup call Ruby needed to get her head back in the game. She continued on, a little more carefully this time.

"Think about it this way, Ruby. Weiss left you behind. Not because she wanted to, but because she _had _to. She left something she deeply cared for, because she also cares about having the chance to win this prestigious tournament. You say she won't train with you; did you ever care to think about why that might be?" Glynda questioned, to which Ruby wiped a tear off her cheek and shook her head.

"Because she doesn't want you to see, Ruby Rose." the Professor said, keeping her stern gaze on Ruby, who now looked confused by her words. Glynda continued to elaborate, "She doesn't want you to see her strengths. Her weaknesses. Her old moves, her new moves, her tactics, her most intricate movements on the battlefield...Ruby, she respects you as one of her most powerful rivals, perhaps her greatest."

Ruby looked at Glynda in shock, stunned at the words...they seemed to elate Ruby's feelings, and the situation between Ruby and her partner began to make sense.

"And ultimately Ruby, think of it from your own perspective. Do you want Weiss to know all of _your_ moves? Your tactics? Would you want Weiss to be able to plan how to defeat _you_ before you met her in battle?". The words all began to click into place for Ruby; finally, she understood her partner's recent behaviour. Ruby shook her head, a modest smile forming on her. "No, Miss Goodwitch. I wouldn't." she replied, handing her application over to her. Glynda returned her smile with one of her own, albeit a tired smile. Ruby nodded, and left Glynda's office confidently.

* * *

On her way back to her dormitory, Ruby finally saw her: the proud, beautiful Schnee daughter, heading in the direction away from their dorm. They spotted each other as they crossed paths; as they walked past each other, Ruby turned and grabbed Weiss's forearm, to the latter's slight surprise.

"Weiss, I just wanted to tell you...that it's okay. I understand now." Ruby said confidently, looking her partner in the eye. "And when we meet in the tournament, whenever that may be...I'm going to give you the _fight of your life_!" Ruby said proudly with a devilish grin on her face.

Weiss paused momentarily...then returned Ruby's grin, nodded politely, and turned to walk towards Beacon's library.


	4. The Hammer and the Scythe

"...and _that_, my brave students, is why you should always carry toothpaste into battle! Class dismissed!" bellowed Professor Port, bringing and end to both his lecture and his two hour-long rendition of the time he forgot to bring toothpaste on a camping trip. Yang stuttered into consciousness, perhaps sensing that she was free to escape finally. Blake had just barely kept herself awake, though her eyelids felt like lead right now. She felt as though the useless anecdote delivered by Professor Port had actually pushed useful information out of her head to make room. Ugh.

As Team RWBY packed their collective bags to leave, the Professor cleared his throat to speak once more to his currently escaping class. "Students, please be advised! I have good news for all of you! The matches for the Vytal Tournament: First Years Competition have been published. You may find them on the student news board!" finished the tenured professor, bowing over-dramatically. His words had reinvigorated the class with newfound excitement, and they rushed past their teacher, almost flooring the old man, to find out what the tournament standings were, including a certain Team RWBY.

Students bolted down the hallways to the news board, where several hopefuls were now crowded trying to see if they'd been deemed skilled enough to be placed into the competition. Several walked away disappointed. There were two brackets for the First Year Students' Tournament: Bracket A and Bracket B.

Blake looked up at the brackets. Only 16 had made it through to take part in the first years' tournament. She scanned her eyes over Bracket A: only a few recognisable names were visible. Ren was set to take on some member of Team AZRE, as was Sun Wukong, a fellow faunus friend of Blake's. She smiled warmly; she was really glad to see that he'd been selected to compete.

She moved her focus over to Bracket B. This was the bracket filled with people she was familiar with. Yang was set to take on Pyhrra...Blake whistled to herself; she could only imagine how intense that match would be. Ruby was written down to take on Nora, yet another match Blake wouldn't be missing for anything. And Jaune Arc had been unlucky enough to be drawn up against Cardin Winchester. _Who knows how that oaf got selected to compete..._

Blake finally found her name, and sighed with relief that she was part of the action. She glanced and saw her first match: Weiss Schnee. Blake felt a flutter of anticipation flow through her. A battle between Weiss and herself would be tough as nails, a great show for the audience...and most importantly, enjoyable. A newfound respect had blossomed between the heiress and the faunus ever since they had reconciled after their argument, and Blake was confident that it would be a battle to remember, for good reasons. She grinned, most content with the brackets, and walked away, as the rest of Team RWBY and the other students continued to look and consider the matchups.

* * *

Four days had passed since the details of the tournament had been published, and finally, the day had arrived. The first match: Ruby Rose vs Nora Valkyrie.

Yang had to take a few moments to take it all in: the size of 'Ascension Stadium' still took her breath away, even after having seen Achieve Men live in concert here, just a year ago. The stadium was packed, the battle arena allowed plenty of space for the competitors to do battle, and the sun beamed down on the masses of spectators lining the perimeter of the stadium. Yang had no idea how high she was in terms of feet, but she'd had to go up four flights of stairs to reach her seat. Not long after, Blake and Weiss joined her in the seats adjacent to hers. Yang smiled; she was glad that Weiss had turned up to watch Ruby fight, although honestly, she'd expected it. Weiss may be cold and detached, but she was fiercely loyal to those who earned her trust. Weiss wouldn't miss this for the world, and neither would Yang.

"Sooo, do you think my sister actually has a strategy to use against Nora?" Yang wondered out loud.

"She doesn't usually need one...not against Grimm, anyway. Although she _is_ fighting a human opponent now, someone intelligent...if a little deranged." Blake's reply was true. Nora was a huntress in training, just like Ruby; she wouldn't blindly charge Ruby in a fit of rage like an Ursa. Ruby would need to co-ordinate her moves and focus herself into planning attacks, defense and counter-attacks. Yang wondered if Ruby had considered _any _of this. _Probably not_, the blonde thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

The chatter of the audience died down significantly, as a broad, short man strode confidently onto the stage, dressed smartly in a jet black pinstripe suit, complete with a corny red bow-tie. The theatrics and 'traditions' were always a colossal waste of time...Yang just wanted to see the action get started. She tapped her foot impatiently, her head rested on her hand, and glanced over to Weiss. To Yang's surprise, Weiss also seemed rather unimpressed with the pompous introduction which was about to follow, as she sat filing her nails and paid no attention to the stage.

"Welcome, proud citizens of Vytal, and any who might have come from far beyond...to the 84th Vytal Tournament." his voice boomed across the breadth of Ascension Stadium. A cheer echoed back at him. "The finest first-year warriors in all the land have gathered here, all vying to claim the greatest and most honourable title...to be crowned the Vytal Champion!" Another roar of applause and cheer met his grandiose announcement; Blake joined in with the spirit of the competition, but Yang and Weiss remained seated and silent.

"Our first match pits two _extremely _dangerous huntresses against one another, in an arena designed to emulate a mountainous standoff!" he continued to shout, and Yang saw that the doofus wasn't joking. Ruby and Nora stood on either side of a large, bowl shaped arena. The floor of the arena was uneven and rocky, undoubtedly making it difficult to keep one's grip secure. Tall, jagged lumps of rock stook out of the ground all over the place, creating a seriously rugged environment for the match. Ruby looked a little anxious; Nora, as per usual, looked completely unaware and overexcited.

"On the count of 5, our competitors Ruby Rose and Nora Valkyrie will begin their fight! They will battle fiercely! Proudly! And fairly! The match ends when one of their aura's has dropped below the red zone." The marshall gestured to an enormous screen behind him, which sparked to life. An image of Ruby and Nora filled the screen, with a green bar under each of their faces; the bars represented their aura. If that bar turned red for either of them, the fight was to be stopped, and the one who still had a 'green aura' declared the victor. Yang understood the concept well enough to not need it explained to her, she'd been to tournaments before. Hell, she'd been to some pretty dodgy underground tournaments herself...and had emerged victorious from those. She smirked as she sauntered through the memories of many hard won brawls, before being snapped back to the action.

"Competitors, take your positions!" Ruby and Nora stepped up to the mark on his command. Ruby extended Crescent Rose to its full form. Nora gripped Magnhild tighter in its hammer form.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Begin!" Yang crossed her fingers, biting her lip just a little.

* * *

Ruby instantly shot diagonally right with her speed semblance, a trail of rose petals in her wake. She'd anticipated Nora's first move, and was glad she had done so; Nora had leapt towards Ruby instantly and smashed Magnhild into the spot Ruby had occupied just moments ago. The ground trembled, and sheer rock splintered under the force of Nora's hit. Ruby span on her heel, narrowly avoiding colliding with a rock pillar, and brought up Crescent Rose's scope. The red huntress pulled the trigger, hard, three times; a sharp _crack_ echoed around the stadium three times, three high-calibre shots ripped their way towards Nora.

The adrenaline coursing through Ruby's body had caused her first two shots to miss Nora wildly, but the third struck true: Ruby saw Nora's aura bar reduced a fraction on the stadium screen. Nora only seemed to become more zealous, transforming Magnhild to its grenade launcher form. Nora's counterattack came in the form of two grenades hurtling towards Ruby; she dived, trying to escape the blast radius, but the force blew Ruby into a nearby pillar of rock. She'd escaped the worst of the explosions...but where was Crescent Rose?

Ruby caught sight of her beloved scythe, and darted to collect it. Nora was still firing off grenades, forcing Ruby to constantly evade. Eventually, Ruby found refuge behind a sturdy mound of rock, around 7 feet high. _That was too close._ She had a few fleeting seconds to come up with a plan.

_Gotta think, gotta think, gotta THINK!_ Ruby repeated to herself in her head, panicking just a little. Her teeth shook as another two rounds exploded on the rock Ruby was hid behind; Nora was sparing Ruby no quarter, and clearly intended to blast her out of cover.

A faint booing began to rise from the crowd; they were unimpressed with Ruby's decision to hide and think, clearly. Yang stood up, angry at the crowd and angry at Ruby: _my sister needs to DO something_, she thought, _and FAST._ Yang looked to her teammates. Blake had her eyes narrowed, her superior vision focusing on the fine details of the match, possibly trying to determine a way for Ruby to gain the upper hand. Whatever Blake was looking at, it wasn't going to be quick enough. Ruby had a few _seconds_ before Nora would be on her again, not a few hours. Weiss, on the other hand, had stood up from her seat, and was staring intensely at Ruby, her arms at her side. She didn't appear worried, she seemed to look more...expectant.

Ruby ignored the disapproval of the audience and continued to search her brain for answers. _Why can't I think of anything? I can't lose in the first round, I promised Weiss I'd face her!_ She looked into the crowd desperately, and by pure chance, caught the gaze of her partner. The bright white hair stood out to her, and Ruby look directly back at Weiss. The exchange of eye contact seemed to calm her, just a little...Ruby began to plan, to look for weaknesses in Nora's fighting style. And finally, it clicked; all she had to do was bait Nora. Ruby whispered a silent thanks to Weiss, somehow feeling that her partner had helped her out.

"I'mmmmm comin' for ya Ruuuuby!" shouted Nora gleefully, finally breaking the huge boulder apart with a swing from her hammer. It shattered and gave way to Nora's might. Ruby dove through the debris towards Nora, and their melee combat truly began. Ruby swung Crescent Rose horizontally, spun round and brought it down vertically; Nora used Magnhild to deflect the scythe, both her and Ruby's motions becoming a blur as the metal of their weapons clashed and scraped. The characteristic _clangs_ of metal-on-metal rang out through the stadium, and the crowd rejoiced, cheering as the battle intensified.

Weiss sat back down in her seat, seemingly content now. Yang looked at her, puzzled. _And just what had transpired between Ruby and Weiss just then?_ The blonde realised she'd have to find out another time, as the match raged on. At least Ruby was fighting back now.

Ruby continued to keep up with Nora, the choreography of battle was natural to them both: attack, defend, parry, counterattack. They landed minor hits on each other, chipping away at each other's aura, but not enough to decide the match. There was a beauty to it...as the scythe and the hammer continued to collide, Ruby tried out some fancier moves, jumping and sweeping her scythe low at Nora's feet. Nora leapt up just in time, retaliating with a sideways lunge with Magnhild. Ruby ducked under the swing on the mighty hammer, and decided that _now_ was the time to enact her strategy.

Ruby sped directly _backwards_ with her semblance, petals floating to the rocky soil underneath her. Ruby just barely kept her balance on the lumpy turf, but she'd made it...and just as planned, Nora was overexcited in the heat of the moment. Nora leapt forwards, just as she had at the start of the match; soaring through the air to land an overhead hammer strike on Ruby. This time, however, Ruby sped _forwards_ with her semblance, stopping directly underneath Nora whilst she was still mid-leap. Ruby poured her strength into a mighty swing of Crescent Rose, smashing her scythe into Nora's undefended legs.

Nora squeaked as the impact sent her flying away, skidding across the arena floor. Ruby looked to the screen, biting her lip and hoping...

Nora's aura bar was flashing red.

"That's it folks! Pleaaaaase give it up for your first winner, RUBY! ROSE!" the marshall shouted out, his voice booming through the stadium speakers as he pointed to the red cloaked girl. The crowd got to their feet, the cheers of fifty thousand spectators almost deafening the young huntress. Nora looked a little glum sat on the ground, slapping her knee in disappointment; Ruby helped her up, and they shook hands with a mutual grin.

"I...I just wanted to say, that was a great fight Nora!" Ruby stuttered out, unsure how to handle Nora post-battle. Nora, however, had returned to her usual smiley self.

"It was great, wasn't it!" Nora yelled over the noise. Ruby was relieved that no hard feelings were felt between the two. She looked into the applauding masses and tried to search for a white ponytail...but Weiss was already gone.

_I'm one step closer to taking you on_, Ruby thought with her characteristic smug grin on her face. _And I can't wait!_

* * *

Weiss walked down the unlit hallway without a word, leaving the roars of the crowd behind her.

_Very well done, Ruby Rose,_ the heiress thought to herself. _Now it's my turn._


	5. Breaking the Habit

Ren looked sorely disappointed as the pancake on his dinner tray was yanked away in the blink of an eye. Of course, he knew exactly where it had disappeared to...Nora just giggled with a cheesy grin, munching into the stolen treat with delight. The green hunter did not sigh or complain, however.

Ren had long since given up trying to defend his cafeteria lunch from the lightning-fast hands of Nora Valkyrie. He shook his head, and tucked into the spiced meat on his plate.

Sat with him were the rest of Team JNPR, as well as Team RWBY. Despite the last few days of matches, he was at least glad to see that the dynamic of the two closely bonded teams had not faltered. On the first day, Ruby had defeated Nora in a battle he was sure would end with Nora's victory; in spite of this, Ruby had pulled herself together and snatched the victory. Ren himself had defeated his opponent from Team AZRE, a blue haired boy named Arthur. It had been a very honourable match; Arthur had wielded a complex bow and arrow weapon named _Parizien. _Ren had just managed to avoid an impressive barrage of arrows to deliver a stealthy overhead attack, clinching the win. Since then, Ren had actually forged a strong friendship with the leader of Team AZRE.

Penny, the mysterious and eccentric girl, had defeated her opponent Velvet Scarlatina in a match which Ren could only describe as a fireworks and lights show. The stadium had been lit up by the various colours of Dust in use, creating a dazzling display of firepower. Weiss Schnee of Team RWBY had taken on Blake Belladonna of the same team; Blake had utilised black Dust to her advantage, creating shadows where there should be none and attacking from all directions. In the end, however, Blake had drawn the battle out for too long; Weiss gained the advantage by using her own Dust to illuminate the arena, and subsequently took the win. There seemed to be no quarrel between the two, at least as far as Ren could tell.

Sun Wukong, also in Bracket A with Ren and Penny, had won his first match fairly easily. What scared Ren however was the final winner of Bracket A, a newcomer neither he nor anyone else had heard of. Tristan. The unknown rookie had rumours circulating about him: that he had never been defeated, that his semblance controlled...everything. The rumours meant nothing to him. But nobody could ignore the fact that this Tristan guy had eliminated his opponent in _15 seconds. _As such, Tristan was set to take on Sun soon...Ren shuddered, sorely hoping that Sun would be able to remove Tristan from the competition. Sun was very skilled, very fast, but still...

Furthermore, Ren still had to concentrate on other matches to come. Jaune had his match against Cardin scheduled for tonight, and as he prodded his food around his plate with a pale face, Pyhrra leant in towards him, trying to talk encouragement into the self-doubting boy. Yang was written down as facing Pyhrra shortly afterwards, and Ren himself would have to take on Penny eventually. _Now THAT is going to be a challenge, no doubt about it, _he mused to himself.

Ren awoke from his troubling thoughts as Ruby's voice grew, her words of encouragement having little effect on Jaune Arc.

"It's easy Jaune, trust me! I know you can beat Cardin, for sure! All you have to do issssss...HIII-YAH!" Ruby demonstrated her martial arts moves, chopping at the dinner table and spilling Blake's drink. Blake looked seriously unamused. In contrast, Yang chuckled at her sister's energy. Jaune groaned in response...everybody was trying to offer him advice, but it was all useless in the face of the task at hand. _Why oh why did I sign up for this stupid tournament?!_

Pyhrra cleared her throat, and started anew.

"I think what Ruby is _trying_ to say, is that you just have to be confident in your abilities." Pyhrra said with a friendly smile. "You have just as much a chance as Cardin does."

"That's not true, you don't understand...agreement..." Jaune mumbled off, his speech becoming slurred and mopey. He poked at the chicken pieces on his plate, still depressed. Pyhrra was puzzled by his words. _Agreement?_

Cardin Winchester, leader of Team CRDL, strolled behind Jaune, nudging him in the back with his elbow and leaning in to speak as Jaune coughed in surprise.

"Say, Jauney boy...haven't forgotten our agreement for later on, have you?" Cardin said in the derisive tone of his. Jaune turned on his seat and frantically shook his head at the taller boy stood behind him. "N-no Cardin! Of course not, I know what I'm doing!" Jaune stuttered, laughing nervously as Cardin straightened his back nodding.

"Oh well that is _excellent_, Jaune. I'm glad we could come to an agreeable compromise. See you at the arena, then." Cardin finished with a wink, turned and left the cafeteria. Jaune slowly turned to his teammates, who all had narrowed their eyes at him. "Me and Cardin...we have a, uh, agreement. Yeah! An agreement about...work. Classes! Yes, Cardin asked to borrow some notes off me, so he could copy them down...before our match...tonight..." Jaune trailed off. Even he recognised that his team, nor Team RWBY, were buying his cover story.

"Jaune, what has Cardin made you agree to?" Pyhrra said, keeping her rage hidden from speech.

"Nothing! Like I said, it's just notes from cla-"

"_JAUNE ARC._" Pyhrra said with a forceful tone. Jaune dropped silent and submitted to her glaring eye contact. "Tell me what Cardin has you roped in to. _Right. Now._" Jaune relented in the face of the warrior girl. "C-Cardin says...that I n-need to deliberately...lose to h-him. Or afterwards...he and the r-rest of Team CRDL are gonna...get me." Jaune replied with a gulp. Pyhrra exhaled slowly, her hands gripping the table in fury like iron vices. She slowly got up from the table, controlling her emotions, and set a forceful hand on Jaune's shoulder. "_Wait here."_. Jaune did exactly as she said, not moving from his seat.

Pyhrra picked up her dinner tray, removing the plate and cup from it onto the table. She scanned the cafeteria, and spotted Cardin walking away, just about to leave. Pyhrra leaned her arm back, took aim, and hurled the tray towards Cardin's back.

The tray exploded into fragments on Cardin's back, the pieces scattering on the floor as Cardin was thrown forward by the impact. The students nearby all turned and stared, pointing, whispering; Cardin wheeled around on his foot furiously. Pyhrra was already strutting down the aisle towards him, on a war path of her own.

"Did YOU just throw that tray at _my_ ba-" Pyhrra pulled out Miló in its sword form, pointing it at Cardin's chest. He fell silent mid-sentence as she rested the tip of the blade against his torso. "So, you like threatening people with a four-on-one assault so that they'll just give you a victory? Is that it, Cardin?" Pyhrra said with a malicious smile. Cardin stared at the blade blankly, realising he'd been uncovered.

"That's very brave, Cardin. In fact, that's so brave, why don't I take you up on that challenge _right now_?" Cardin was still in shock, his mouth agape slightly, before he decided that he would no longer allow this _girl_ to push him around. He donned his overconfident smile. "Alright, I see we've annoyed you by messing with that moron you call a teammate. You want to settle this by taking _all_ of Team CRDL on simultaneously? Not a very smart move." He motioned to his three teammates nearby. "Meet us in the outside in the training grounds in ten minutes. You're going to regret this, _little girl_." Cardin sneered, and strode out of the cafeteria doors, his teammates hot on his heels.

Jaune had appeared beside Pyhrra, as well as the others. Jaune set his hand gently on his partner's shoulder. He opened his mouth to voice his concerns. "Pyhrra, are you really going to take all of Cardin's team on solo? It's too dangerous, you shouldn't-"

"You shouldn't go in alone, I want to get it on this too! Take me with you, I'm _itching_ to put those guys to sleep!" Yang exclaimed, a mischievous grin accompanying her offer. The blonde smashed her gauntlets together to hammer the point home. Pyhrra smiled weakly, but shook her head, and turned to face the doors.

"No. I'm ending this today."

* * *

Many first year students had quickly caught wind of what was going down, and as such, Pyhrra had an audience. She held her spear, Miló, in her right hand, whilst her shield Akoúo was gripped in her left. She stood patiently on the side of the training grounds, Team JNPR and Team RWBY surrounding her for support. Jaune continued to offer to take her place, asking her to come away and not get hurt; it was sweet, but she politely declined. She continued to stare with laser-like focus across at Team CRDL, who stood hunched in a circle, no doubt discussing the best way to overwhelm with her their numbers. She couldn't help but smirk at their naïve atttempts to strategise against _her_.

Cardin Winchester secured the last buckle on his chestplate, and retrieved his mace _Beaufortia_ from the ground. He scanned across his teammates: Russel, Sky and Dove. "Alright guys, don't _embarass_ me. This is going to be easy...provided none of you get in my way. Whenever I'm not hitting her, _you guys_ get in there and make her life a little worse. Understood?"

The other three nodded, equipping their weapons. They turned and faced the lone warrior girl. Cardin gestured to her, taunting her onto the battleground. Pyhrra smiled sweetly, walk to the centre of the makeshift arena, and stood still with her hands on her hips.

"I'm waiting, sweetie. Are you scared to come in?" Pyrhha called out calmly. Cardin scoffed and marched over.

He swung his mace at head level, and Pyhrra ducked fast. The impact would have near enough taken her head off...had it not been such a _pitifully slow and obvious attack._ Pyhrra straightened her back and retaliated, swinging her shield into Cardin's smug face. It connected with a satisfying _thunk _against his jaw, and he reeled back in pain. Cardin staggered back, gritted his teeth, and motioned for his team to join the fight. Pyhrra kept the smirk on her face as the four bullies formed a circle around her.

"Classic bully tactics." she remarked, settling into a defensive stance.

"You're going to regret that _sorely_..." growled Cardin. He nodded to his team, and they all lunged wildly at the girl in the centre. In the space of a few milliseconds, Pyhrra visualised and picked an evasive maneuvre out of the four seperate attacks, and decided on her counterattack.

* * *

She rolled diagonally forwards to the right, as a mess of swords, daggers and maces swung harmlessly over her body. As she straightened onto her feet, she threw her right arm upwards, smashing Sky in the jaw with the helm of her sword Miló. He fell backwards, incapacitated. One down. Pyhrra turned gracefully, as Dove Bronzewing was bringing an overhead sword attack down at her. She bent her knees, and straightened them quickly, giving extra force to her as she pushed her shield into the path of his upper attack; his sword bounced off the shield, and Pyhrra followed through with the shield, forcing the full weight of it into his chest. Dove staggered backwards from the impact and collapsed. Two down.

By this point, merely a few seconds later, Cardin was initiating his second strike, a stabbing lunge with his mace towards her midsection. The crimson huntress side-stepped his attempt easily, and clubbed him in the head with the handle of her sword. He doubled over in pain; he would be stunned, at least for a few valuable seconds. She spent these precious few moments duelling with Russel Thrush; she parried his dagger attacks, disarming him of both weapons rapidly. He stood there, helpless with an expression of shock and confusion, as Pyhrra rendered him unconscious with another bash of her shield Akoúo. Cardin briefly saw his teammates lying on the ground in pain, and rushed Pyhrra wildly. She dodged to the left, allowing him to run past her; as he did, the huntress swivelled on her heel and delivered a crippling kick to Cardin's ribs. Cardin tumbled and fell to the ground, clutching his side and wincing in agony.

Four down. Pyhrra smiled and turned to return to her team, who beamed and cheered her name. Another round of applause sounded from the small audience which had gathered to watch the spectacle. Jaune sprinted forward at Pyhrra, to her confusion...as he equipped his shield and blocked a crushing overhead blow from Cardin. Pyhrra turned 180 degrees, shocked to see that the leader of Team CRDL had got to his feet and had tried to attack her whilst her back was turned. Jaune bashed his own shield into Cardin, flooring him for good. His crimson haired partner rested her boot on Cardin's neck and knelt down to whisper to him.

"Don't threaten my teammate, or _anyone_ in this school,_ ever again._" she whispered to the Winchester boy, a hint of rage in her otherwise calm tone; almost as if she dared him to try challenge her again. Cardin nodded frantically, gasping for breath as she removed her boot from his neck.

"That will be quite enough, Miss Nikos." announced a new voice. Pyhrra and the others all turned to see Professor Ozpin strolling towards the training grounds, coffee mug in hand. "I'm sure Team CRDL will ensure they treat their fellow academics with heightened respect from now on." Pyhrra nodded and sheathed her sword. Team RWBY and JNPR came over to congratulate her.

"That was soooo cool Pyhrra! You were all like swish, swish, STAB! And then you rolled under their swords and totally smashed that guy, in the face, and then you..." Ruby's excited rant went on and on, rapidly increasing into unintelligible speeds.

"That was _certainly _something else." Blake said, nodding curtly with her hands behind her back. Yang still pouted, hands on her hips.

"Why didn't I get to join in? I could have had those idiots for breakfast!" she whined, much to Pyhrra's amusement. She turned to Jaune and blushed just a little as she spoke to him, resting her hand on his shoulder. "I...could have been seriously injured without you, Jaune. Thank you. Truly."

"Heh, it's n-not a problem. It's my job to look out for my team," Jaune replied with a shrug and a grin, "besides, a wise huntress-in-training once told me that _everybody needs a little help once in a while_." He met her eye contact sheepishly, his cheeks glowing as crimson as her own hair. They gazed at each other just a little while longer than necessary. And neither seemed to mind.


	6. Greek Fire

Ruby shoulder barged through the absent minded masses, sprinting towards the entrance of Transcendence Stadium. Adrenaline coursed through her as she leapt up two steps at a time, panting for breath, desperate to get her seat before the match started. In her trail of rose petals, Blake, Jaune and Sun raced after the red blur as fast as their legs could carry them.

Ruby continued to rocket down the aisle, approaching the seat she had reserved. In her path, she collided with a passing blackbird, which squawked in shock.

"Birdy _no!_ It happened again!" Ruby squealed, not slowing her pace.

At last, she skidded to a halt, found her seat, and slouched into the plastic stadium chair as her muscles throbbed with a dull ache. She'd made it; still two minutes until the big match between her big sister and Pyhrra began. Moments later her companions arrived, doubled over and gasping for air. Sun dropped into his seat and sloppily wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Did we really need to run here, guys? Really? There's still two minutes left!" Sun exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his arms towards the stadium clock. Blake seemed to agree, leaning over to shoot Ruby an unimpressed stare. Ruby merely shrugged and tried to ignore their staring, burning into her face. Jaune finally caught his breath and gasped as he got his first real look at Transcendence Stadium, to which Ruby could not help but grin at the look of awe he wore.

The stadium was perhaps even more impressive than Ascension, especially given it was a late autumn evening and a shroud of darkness was cast over the sky. Towering floodlights beamed down onto the arena and the stands, around which an almighty mass of spectators from all over Vytal were sat. Yang and Pyhrra stood on opposing sides of the arena, 50 meters apart, staring each other down. Even the background chatter of the crowd was enough to make Blake's ears a little sensitive; in addition, an airship loomed overhead, drifting graciously above the stadium perimeter.

Ruby's smile faded a little, looking to the empty seats to her right. Weiss was away again; she'd gone to watch the Ren vs. Penny match at Ascension Stadium, which unfortunately took place at the same time as this match. It hurt Ruby a little, knowing that the heiress was still distancing herself from Ruby whenever possible. The red cloaked girl at least understood why by now, but understanding did little to alleviate the solitude Ruby felt when her partner was absent. She couldn't quite describe it to anyone: without Weiss by her side, it was as if she was never fully content, always a little lost. Not that she would _dream_ of telling anybody about her dependence on Weiss.

She and Jaune craned their heads back to watch the great aircraft. Jaune seemed content, observing its tranquil flight. Ruby was glad he wasn't feeling down, after his loss to Cardin. _At least he had the chance to fight without a threat looming over him,_ Ruby reasoned in her head. And Jaune had put up a good fight: Cardin had been on the defensive more than once. As a result of Cardin's victory, Ruby would be next to take him on in the semi-finals of Bracket B. Ruby snapped out of her trance, the gentle humming of the airship engines drowned out by the sudden emergence of the marshal.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to _another_ pulse-pounding match! Hold onto your seats, because today we have two of the hardest hittin' huntresses around!" Ruby jolted her head back to the arena. Its design, as usual, was unique for this match. The floor was sandy and flat, surrounded by metal barriers to contain the action. _No gimmicks this time around_, Ruby thought to herself.

"One one side, we have the four-time winner of the Mistral regional tournament herself, the star of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes: give it up for PYHRRA! NIKOS!" The announcement was met with an exhilarating wave of clapping and cheers; Jaune stood and joined in enthusiastically. Pyhrra turned to the deafening masses, bowed, and held her hand above herself, her index and middle finger forming a 'V': symbolising _V for Victory_. Ruby clapped along politely; she may be supporting her sister, but she was still close to Pyhrra._  
_

"Standing on the other side, ready to scrap, is our second contestant...she's fiery, she's beautiful, and she can out-wrestle an Ursa: please welcome, YANG, XIAO, LONG!" bellowed the marshal. Ruby leapt from her seat onto her feet, cheering and hopping in joy. Blake rolled her eyes, smirked and stood to support her partner.

"You can DO it big sis! I know you caaaaaaan!" shouted Ruby at the top of her lungs, giggling as she did. Yang smashed her gauntlets together enthusiastically, a tremendous grin on her face as she turned around to bask in the roar of her audience. She fist pumped the air dramatically, much to the delight of the crowd. She swung round to face her opposition, and pointed one gauntlet at Pyhrra.

"Let's see how long you can last against me, Pyhrra! Don't be disappointed if I win _too_ quickly!" Yang called out, still wearing that zealous smile of hers. Pyhrra closed her eyes and shook her head, her arms folded.

"The only disappointment will be yours when _I'm_ declared victorious!" came Pyhrra's retort. The two warriors grinned and waited patiently as the countdown clock approached 5 seconds. "Alllllllright! Are you ready for some serious fireworks?" the marshal shouted to the spectators; they replied with yet more enthusiastic jubilation. "You got it! Competitors, take your positions!"

Yang and Pyhrra stepped forward onto their respective podiums. The stadium clock hit 5 seconds.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! ONE! _BEGIN!_"

* * *

Yang rocketed off her podium, fueled by the roar of the crowd, firing multiple blasts at Pyhrra as she shot towards the arena floor. Pyhrra rolled to her left, narrowly evading the barrage of shotgun shells which punctured her podium. Pyhrra landed on the arena floor with grace, before lurching into a sprint again to avoid more of the brawler blonde's aggressive shots. Pyhrra transformed her spear Milό into its rifle form in one, swift motion, and took aim at Yang, who had only now just hit the sandy ground. Pyhrra kept her arms steady and fired multiple rounds at the blonde. Three hit their mark, pelting the blonde's right arm.

Yang winced and shrugged off the pain, accelerating towards Pyhrra in a zig-zag pattern and dodging more bullets. Pyhrra sprinted from her position, evading a vicious right hook from the blonde who had reached her in mere seconds. As Yang turned to find her prey, Pyhrra had already skidded to a halt some meters away, and fired another salvo of rounds from Milό, again chipping away at Yang's aura. Again, the blonde shot towards her, closing in on her. But Pyhrra knew she could keep this game up a little longer...all she had to do was keep Yang at distance, force her to tire herself out and slowly wear her aura down with long-range attacks. Going against Yang in a close quarters battle whilst she was this energetic was paramount to suicide; she needed to bring the bruiser down a few notches before she could consider a melee battle.

Ruby watched anxiously from the stands, still on her tip-toes, biting her lip as she watched her sister rush Pyhrra again and again. _You've got to shoot back Yang, _Ruby thought. _Pyhrra knows how strong you are, and she's playing to your weaknesses!_ Blake looked concerned too, and decided to voice these concerns.

"Yang is wasting _far_ too much energy blindly rushing at Pyhrra...she should be using Ember Cecilia's shotgun shells to level the playing field!" Blake uttered the advice to herself, not caring that her partner couldn't actually hear or use the advice. She glanced at the stadium screen, glaring at the Aura bars of both competitors. Yang's was still green, but noticeably lower than Pyhrra's bar.

Yang panted, catching her breath. _I'm done playing your cowardly game, Pyhrra. Time to make you feel the heat._ Yang cocked the shotguns in Ember Cecilia, and began firing back with red shotgun shells. Pyhrra dived away as the ground behind her detonated; a wave of sweltering heat washed over her. Finally, Yang scored a direct hit on her evading opponent. Pyhrra flew back as the explosive shell connected with her leg, and she skidded backwards across the sand. Yang gave her no time to recover, however. The tide had turned in Yang's favour, as the blonde shot round after explosive round into the ground all around her, throwing cascades of sand high into the air above the arena. Pyhrra scrambled away, ignoring the pain of prickling heat and pressure waves as she opted to bide her time and waste Yang's ammunition.

The crowd was in a thrilled frenzy, wide eyed and on the edge of their seats at the hectic mayhem unfolding before them. Ruby was jumping excitedly again, throwing her fists in the air as she chanted her sister's name. "Yaaaang! Yaaaang! Yaaaang!" she repeated, as she hopped up and down giggling. Ruby's cape could barely keep up with her energy, as it flapped wildly up and down. Sun widened his eyes, whistling in admiration of the battle's intensity; Jaune gritted his teeth as he crossed his fingers, nervously tapping his feet. He _knew_ she could do this...

The two competitors continued to trade long range shots in an electrifying display of firepower; shotgun shells and rifle rounds ripped past each other, reducing each other's aura bar closer and closer to the red zone. Pyhrra crouched with her rifle, aimed rapidly and pulled the trigger once more, only to be met by a _click_. Empty. Pyhrra was all out of bullets. Yang smirked and threw her first forward...nothing. She paused, looked sternly at her gauntlets. No shotgun shells left. The two competitors looked to each other, caught in a curious predicament.

Pyhrra slowly stood from her crouch, donning her shield and switching Milό to its spear form as she did. Yang paced forward cautiously; 30 meters separated the the two. Both maintained blistering eye contact on the other, reading each others slow movements towards each other.

15 meters between them now. They continued to approach.

5 meters. The two circled each other without a word, staring intensely at each other. The crowd noise had dropped to a barely noticeable murmur...dropping a pin would be louder. The tension was excruciating for Ruby, as she watched her sister mirror Pyhrra's movements, both competitors stuck in a standoff which was about to explode. Jaune's eyes were wide open, tracking every little movement of the brief pause in the action. Ruby leaned over to Blake and Sun, whispering to the former. "What's going to happen?" she asked Blake, somewhat naively. Blake responded without taking her eyes off the arena. "They've both run out of ammunition. They'll have to settle this with only their close quarters melee skills..." Blake drifted off mid-sentence, captivated by the lull in the action. Ruby snapped her focus back to the arena, her jaw still hanging a little in anticipation. She crossed her fingers on right hand behind her back. She reconsidered...and crossed every finger and toe, barely able to stand straight as a result.

Pyhrra still followed Yang's movements, circling at a range of about 3 meters now, staring right into each other's pupils. She contemplated whether to relent and make the first move. She calmed her nerves, and remained patient. Pyhrra looked behind her...and spotted the metal barriers still lining the arena. _I still have a weapon!_ Pyhrra smiled as she came to the realisation. Her semblance, polarity, gave her the power to control magnetism - and now was the time to put it to good use. Without breaking eye contact, Pyhrra stretched her arm out to her side, gaining magnetic control over the barrier, and launched it towards Yang's side. Yang jolted to her side; punched straight through the barrier like a hot knife through butter, and swiveled back to face Pyhrra, re-establishing that intense eye contact. _Well, i__t was worth a shot,_ she thought.

Yang must have been triggered by Pyhrra's attack, as she finally gave in and lunged towards her: a powerful left hook headed straight for Pyhrra's skull. Pyhrra lowered her stance in the blink of an eye, and used her spear to parry Yang's punch harmlessly over her head. Yang realised her mistake an instant too late, unable to launch a right hook in time. Pyhrra followed up her parry with a mighty shield bash into the right of Yang's head. Yang was thrown backwards onto the ground...and on the stadium screen, her aura flashed just barely into the red zone.

"Awwww _NUTS!_" shouted the blonde, punching the floor moodily._  
_

"Ittttt's ovvveeeeer!" the marshall yelled into his microphone, his voice booming across the audience. The spectators broke from their relative silence and erupted into cheers again, chanting Pyhrra's name whilst the sound of their applause reverberated for miles around the stadium. Ruby Rose groaned a little at her sister's loss, as Jaune whooped and cheered in disbelief. Blake smiled warmly, ruffling Ruby's hair and assuring her that her sister had fought excellently.

Pyhrra lowered her spear and shield and beamed a smile to the audience. _Phew. That was far too close for comfort._

"No fair guys, I can still fight! I'm not tired or anything, just let me back into the action and I could easily win this!" shouted Yang, extremely dissatisfied with being declared the loser. Pyhrra strolled over, and offered a handshake.

"You fought bravely and with honour, Yang. It was my pleasure to be your opponent today." Pyhrra interrupted. Yang scowled for a few moments...before sighing and returning the handshake. "Yeah, I guess it was a pretty awesome battle. But _next time_, I promise you I'm gonna wipe the floor with you!" Yang said with a grin. Pyhrra chuckled and nodded. "Until next time, Yang." She turned and walked away from the blonde, exiting the sandy arena. She looked down at the arena from the outside safety barriers. _Wow, we really did wreck that arena._ Pyhrra stifled a laugh.

* * *

Yang sauntered next to Ruby, Blake and Sun as they walked down the street, heading home.

"Aww man, I'm still bummed out! I wanted to get further than the first round!" whined Yang, scraping her feet as she trudged alone. Blake consoled her with a pat on the back.

"You did face a very strong opponent very early on...just like I did. It's just a matter of chance." reasoned Blake, rubbing Yang's shoulder in an effort to calm her. The blonde continued to look a little glum, however, which saddened Ruby. Seeing her big sister like this only added to the negativity she felt; her partner was somewhere else, and her sister had lost. What a crummy day.

Back at Transcendence Stadium, Pyhrra finally walked out the doors and onto the street, having been pestered for some autographs by budding fans. Not that she ever felt irritable towards fans, however. She was immediately greeted by a beaming Jaune, who embraced her enthusiastically in a rare display of affection. Her cheeks practically glowed red as she grew an involuntary smile instantly.

"That was the coolest battle _ever!_" he shouted out, still hugging his teammate. "The way you rolled out the way of all those shots, and then you totally threw a huge metal thingybob at Yang...oh oh! And then you blocked her punch and slammed the shield and it was _SO cool _and-"

"Thank you, Jaune. It's very kind of you to wait here and congratulate me!" Pyhrra interrupted, finally growing the courage to return the embrace. Jaune released a few seconds later and pulled out his Scroll. "Oh, I forgot to tell you...Nora just called. It was...pretty incoherent, but apparently Ren lost against Penny." Jaune said, shrugging and looking a little apologetic. Pyhrra returned the expression. "That's a shame. I'm sure he fought valiantly, though."

Jaune nodded in agreement; they both knew Ren would have given it his all, right to the very end. They began walking, side by side, back towards the airship port for Beacon Academy.

* * *

Weiss marched silently down the hallway of Ascension Stadium, leaving the sound of the cheering masses behind her. She did not care for the post-match celebrations and festivities. She watched, she analysed, she saw Penny win - and now she was done. Simple as that. The only break in the silence came from her boots, a pleasing _clack, clack_ rhythm as the heiress rounded the corner. A boy stood leaning against the wall, watching her walk. Weiss ignored the onlooker. As the heiress to the most powerful company in the world, unwanted attention scarcely fazed her anymore. As she passed him, she felt a hand block her shoulder, emphatically stopping her walking. She whipped her head round to the boy who had stopped her, casting her characteristic ice-cold glare upon him. _Nobody_ got in a Schnee's way, and never so rudely.

"It's Weiss, isn't it?" he said, looking at the floor. "Weiss Schnee, the heiress?" The boy raised his head to meet her gaze, looking past his own long, jet black hair. His hair reached his shoulders, just barely touching his long-sleeved button-up shirt, which was accompanied by a pair of tight fitting black jeans. She forcefully removed his hand from her shoulder.

"Correct." she replied, offering nothing more than what was necessary in her response.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Tristen, Tristen Fall." he said with a suspicious smile. Weiss knew that name from the tournament. She did not care. Weiss turned to continue walking away, but he persisted. "What an excellent match that was. The Penny girl is quite powerful, is she not?" Weiss offered no reply, facing away from him.

Something about him spooked her, made her feel unsafe.

"Did you know that Miss Nikos is scheduled to be your next opponent? She defeated that Yang girl in Bracket B, just minutes ago..." he trailed off, his tone somewhat airy and eccentric.

So, Pyhrra was her next opponent.

"I look forward to it," she replied, finally engaging in conversation again, "but it's just another step on my path to claiming the title." Weiss smirked, letting her confident words sink in with the boy. The heiress began to march off down the hallway. "Oh, that _is_ a shame." came Tristen's reply.

"I'm afraid I won't be permitting that."

Weiss turned on her heel, placed her hands on her hips, and frowned. In spite of her attempt to appear unfazed, Weiss felt the colour wash from her cheeks. She was afraid, but she couldn't pinpoint why, or what about him made her skin crawl.

"You see, whether you defeat that Ruby girl in the Bracket B final or not is...none of my concern." he continued, with an unsettling smile and unwavering stare. His mention of Ruby's name stabbed through Weiss, and she clenched her knuckles. The tone of his voice was calm, but it festered with unspoken threats. "After all, the Bracket B winner takes on the Bracket A winner - which will be _me_, by the way - to decide the Vytal champion. But surely, the _great Schnee heiress_ already knows this?" Weiss ignored his subtle taunt and continued to meet his stare, refusing to relent. She decided to retaliate with logic.

"You still have to defeat both Sun _and_ Penny for that to happen. Furthermore, Ruby must defeat Cardin in order to advance to the Bracket B fina-" Tristen pushed himself off the wall and stood before her, interrupting Weiss instantly.

"Do _spare_ me the lecture, _please_. Ruby will defeat the Winchester oaf with ease, you know this." he interjected, his smile disappearing into neutrality on his face. He paced back and forth, still staring Weiss down. "And when she _does_, if you make it to the Bracket B final too...well, then you'll get to have that match you're so desperate to have, won't you?" Weiss stood entirely still, inexplicably petrified.

"You'll get to play-fight with the girl who makes your heart..._flutter..._" he trailed off, a devious smirk returning to his face. Weiss felt herself reeling from his taunt, glowering at the insult, barely hiding the blushing and the rage from her face. Every time he talked about or mentioned her partner, a pang of fear seemed to echo through her veins.

"Well, it was _lovely_ to meet you, Miss Schnee." he said, appearing merry again. He turned and walked in the opposite direction, hands in pockets. "Don't let up on those late-night training sessions, Weiss!". He disappeared around the corner. Weiss remained still, paralysed by fear and confusion.

He had been watching her.

* * *

Ruby looked up to the door as Weiss finally returned from the Ren vs Penny match. She smiled, waving at her teammate.

"Hi Weiss! How was the match, was it good?" Ruby sang, getting up to greet Weiss.

Weiss did not reply for a couple seconds, before finally meeting Ruby's gaze with an unconvincing smile.

"Hello Ruby." she replied. Weiss instantly walked past her, sat down on her bed and began re-adjusting her alarm clock. Ruby peered over her. Weiss looked pale, almost shell-shocked. Usually the heiress would scold Ruby on leaving crayons on the floor, or not folding her clothes. Weiss did not utter another word. "Weiss...why are you resetting your clock? Aren't you going to...train in the early morning?" Ruby said cautiously. Weiss did not look up from her shaking hands, setting the clock for 8:00 AM. "N-no, Ruby. I think I'm just going to..." Weiss trailed off, leaving her sentence half finished.

Ruby was scared, sitting next to her partner and staring intensely at her with worry. "Going to what, Weiss? ...Weiss, what's wrong?" she questioned. Weiss paused, locked her eyes with Ruby's, and smiled weakly.

"Nothing, R-Ruby. Goodnight."

Ruby stood up from Weiss's bed, as the heiress slid into her covers, not even changing into pyjamas. Ruby's heart rate had heightened, and she continued to stare at the snowy haired girl, estranged by her partner's erratic behaviour. Nothing ever unnerved Weiss like this. Ever.

_If you'd just let me in, Weiss...I'd do whatever it takes to make you better._


	7. Something Else Entirely

Ruby turned to the cheering masses grinning, with one hand on her hip and the other clutching Crescent Rose. Ruby couldn't wipe the triumphant smile off her own face; this felt _amazing_. She had to soak in the glory, just for a little longer. Cardin Winchester lay defeated on the cold, hard ground, eliminated from the tournament. A sour scowl painted his face. Ruby had finished him quickly, rather than draw out his defeat. An act of kindness, technically.

The young huntress looked out into the audience, scanning her eyes rapidly across them. She knew what she was looking for, focusing on every speck of white she could pinpoint. Ruby sighed, failing to spot what she was searching for. Weiss had left by now. The heiress never stuck around for the celebrations. Ruby swiftly collapsed Crescent Rose into its smallest form; she stepped out of the arena, greeted by more rapturous applause, as well as a rib-crushing bear hug from her boisterous big sister.

* * *

Blake, Ruby and Ren sat quietly next to each other in the Beacon Library, appearing tidy for once in their school uniforms. The only disruptions in the silence came from the flick of a page, the scribble of a pen, the ticking of the antique clock above them...the minute hand crawled forward, now reading 11:05PM. Ruby scowled at the assignment set on the table before her; Professor Oobleck's work was always the hardest. The homework required Ruby to write a minimum of 2,000 words on the ways in which Dust was discovered and harvested by humanity, and how it had helped them fight back against the Grimm. Ruby twirled her pen in her fingers, slumping her face on her palm and frowning at the textbooks scattered all over the desk. She glanced over to Blake and Ren on her left. Both seemed content, scribbling away as they fought through the homework easily. Ruby cast out a heavy sigh.

Blake's ears twitched. She looked up from her work, distracted. Ruby caught sight of this and looked over to her, trying to strain her own ears to catch whatever Blake could hear. Nothing yet. Gradually, a _click clack _rhythm came into earshot; Ren turned slowly whilst Ruby swivelled round in an instant. Her heart jumped just a little. The heiress was approaching them, stepping carefully between two bookcases before stopping in front of Ruby.

"May I?" Weiss gestured to the empty seat adjacent to Ruby's. Ruby nodded, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, immediately regretting her actions. _Stupid body. Stupid neck._ Weiss slid the chair out and took her seat delicately, procuring various academic journals and history textbooks from her bag. They sat in silence for a few moments. Weiss pretended she was scanning through paragraphs, racking her brain for something to initiate conversation. Ruby was clearly attempting the same, pretending to point at words and highlight them. Weiss restrained a smirk._ I'm more similar to that dolt than I care to acknowledge_.

"So, you defeated that Cardin boy in an impressively short duration of time." Weiss barely broke the silence, her voice a careful whisper in the library. Ruby fought to resist goosebumps raising on her neck and arms as Weiss had leant in to whisper into her right ear. She wrestled her senses back to normal inside her head.

"...Yep. I can't believe I made it to the Bracket B finals!" Ruby replied, barely containing her excitability to a low volume. Weiss nodded, but did not verbally reply, leaving Ruby to spur the conversation on. "Are you excited for your match against Pyhrra? I-I know that I am...you know..." Ruby trailed off, staring at her white-haired partner and silently begging for a response. Weiss looked up from her notes and returned Ruby's gaze. "Yes, I suppose I am. It should be exhilarating."

If Weiss truly was excited for her match, she certainly didn't show it on her face. She broke eye contact and returned to her work, producing letters which beautifully flowed and connected to each other. Ren leaned over, joining in with their conversation.

"First things first guys. Sun Wukong is taking on that Tristen guy tomorrow. Now _that_ should be worth watching." he said, glancing between the two of them. Weiss froze her writing momentarily at the mention of his name._ Tristen_. Ren seemed to sense something was off...Ruby looked puzzled at the both of them, before Ren cleared his throat awkwardly, returning to his work. Ruby gripped her pen tighter, biting her lip in frustration at herself. What was wrong with Weiss? She couldn't seem to fit the pieces together, and as long as she couldn't do that, she was powerless to aid her partner. A team leader was supposed to deal with these problems...yet Ruby could not break through her partner's metaphorical defences.

Ruby broke free of her worries, watching the heiress continue her work. Each word was a piece of her art in its own right, her left hand drifting slowly over the paper as the ink obeyed tiny movements from her hand and formed the immaculate lettering. Ruby peered over, entranced.

"Whoaaah...Weiss, how do you _write_ like that?" she whispered, still watching the process with intrigue. Weiss did not look up from her work, but failed to prevent herself smiling bashfully. _Damn it,_ the heiress cursed herself in her thoughts. "It's called calligraphy, Ruby." Ruby restrained her goosebumps again. _Calligraphy_. Such a gorgeous word, spoken by Weiss's sing-song voice, sent shivers down her spine. Ruby piped up, fixated on Weiss's page. "Can you teach _me_ to write like that? Pleease?" she whispered into Weiss's ear. Weiss continued to smile, rolling her eyes. "Fine. But only once you've finished your homework" she replied in a mock serious tone. Ruby groaned.

Ruby leaned over once more. "Weiss, what was that word again?". Weiss blinked, tilting her head to the side, looking right at Ruby again.

"_Calligraphy_."

Ruby stifled a squeal of joy. It just sounded _so good._

_Totally worth it._

* * *

Yang grabbed the navy blue aviators from her back pocket. She'd need them today. The midday sun was intense; a late September heat wave had hit Vale. Whilst her friends sweltered and struggled in the sun, Yang basked in its glory. She soaked up the heat and the light merrily; after all, her semblance was well suited for such conditions. Through the dark tint of her sunglasses, the blonde took in her surroundings.

They were back at Ascension Stadium again. To her right were her close friends: Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, Pyhrra, Nora and Ren. The only one missing...was Blake. Yang turned her head to focus on the arena and the podiums, far down below in the centre. Blake stood opposite, gesturing something to Sun with her arms. She seemed to be explaining or suggesting something. Probably a pep talk, or a battle strategy. Opposite them, sitting down on the podium, was Sun's opponent. Tristen, or whatever he was called. He seemed so overly relaxed, it seemed to irritate Yang. She was boisterous and cocky herself, but never mockingly so. The blonde disliked overconfidence in other people. And thus, this kid annoyed her. _Man, I wish I was still in the tournament_, she grudgingly thought to herself. _I'd have given him something to worry about for sure_.

The marshal stepped out holding his microphone on the stage below. Yang sighed and groaned. She was getting _really _tired of all the pre-match theatrics by now; she just wanted to see the damn fights, not sit through some pompous cheese. This time, Yang popped in some earphones and decided to blast speed metal into her ears instead. She waited impatiently, watching the plump dork swing his arms around in a ludicrous display, thankfully unable to hear his overdramatic announcing. When the stadium clock dropped to thirty seconds, she finally stopped the music and tuned back in.

"...and best of luck to both our competitors, Sun! And! Tristen!" he shouted, and the crowd reciprocated. "Hunters, please take your positions on the podiums!" Sun left Blake with a brief embrace, and he and Tristen stood deadly still on their podiums; Yang could tell that both were completely in the zone. The Tristen boy still looked...as if he didn't really care if he was here, however. Yang scowled, and the only thought she could conjure was _let me at him_. Yang observed her partner turn and walk away from the podiums, taking a seat on a bench at the sidelines. Glancing to her right, she watched the reactions of her friends closely: Ruby cheered Sun's name, whilst Weiss filed her nails, keeping her focus on the arena however. Pyhrra and Jaune were silent and sharing a bucket of popcorn. _Dawww, that's cute_. At the far end of the line were Ren and Nora: Nora was devouring cotton candy whilst Ren narrowed his eyes, taking in every detail of the arena.

This arena was...interesting, to say the least. A circular pit, one hundred metres in diameter, separated the two competitors; it was moderately filled with tropical trees, vines and shrubs. There was a good balance between foliage for cover, and enough space to fight without being restricted by the environment.

The stadium clock hit five seconds. The marshall counted down. Sun bent his knees...ready to jump. Tristen stood with his hands in his pockets, a broadsword still sheathed on his back. Weiss pocketed her nail file and crossed her arms whilst Ruby stopped jumping up and down, holding her breath.

The clock hit zero.

* * *

Sun leapt upwards and forwards, equipping his staff as he fell down into the jungle-esque arena. He swept his head left, then right; visibility was restricted in here. He wouldn't be able to find Tristen until they were fairly close in proximity. He dashed forward, zipping between the trees; soon enough, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the enemy. He stalked forward, using the trees for cover, mere meters from his target. Sun waited for Tristen to move a little closer, bent his knees...and launched towards the opposition.

Tristen swivelled around to meet his attacker, unfazed. Sun began to swing accurate, lightning-fast manoeuvres with his staff. Vertically, horizontally, diagonally; Sun attacked with the bo-staff from every angle.

Tristen dodged and ducked under all of them.

After a furious fifteen seconds of continuous attempts, Sun growled and halted his attacks, dazed and frustrated. _Why won't he fight back?_ The two stared at each other intensely. Tristen returned his hands to his pockets, an irritating polite smile beaming back at Sun. Sun caught his breath, straightened his back and glared at his enemy.

"What's your _deal?!_" Sun shouted, gripping his staff so tight his knuckles were practically white. Tristen looked puzzled, as if he didn't understand Sun's rage.

"My...deal?" came the reply.

"You don't _fight_. You just dance around." Sun said through gritted teeth. All this Tristen guy had done so far was make Sun look like an _idiot_ in front of thousands of spectators, moving out of the way of Sun's every attack. Even now, the audience mumbled and murmured: the fight had essentially stopped, not long after it had started. Tristen paused momentarily, and smiled again, shrugging. "Oh, sorry about that. It's just quieter this way. Less effort." he replied, casually looking around. He wouldn't even give Sun eye contact. The faunus couldn't stand the disrespect. He snapped.

"So you don't like noise, is that it?" Sun growled, and discretely seperated his staff into its 2 shotgun/nunchakus form. "Then you're gonna _hate ME!_" Sun dived towards him.

Sun began his signature moves, as Tristen woke up and pulled out his broadsword. Sun swung the nunchakus around at tremendous speed, firing off shotgun shells and reloading them with the momentum of his attack. An incredible barrage of the shotgun blasts flew at Tristen, who swung his broadsword back and forth, blocking the shots and nunchaku hits at an equally impressive speed. The display of speed, firepower and defense had the audience roaring with pleasure again. Blake stood up to get a better look at the engagement, her eyes scanning every swing of a nunchaku, every deflection by Tristen's sword. In the stands, Yang's mouth was slightly agape, watching the rapidity and the ferocity of Sun's offensive being stopped by Tristen's defence. Tristen swivelled and ducked, barely being pushed back by such an unforgiving chain of attacks from Sun.

Sun finally stopped attacking many seconds later, angry and in disbelief. Not one hit had gotten through to his opponent. _Not one._ His nunchakus, _Ruyi Bang _and _Jingu Bang_, had ran entirely out of ammunition. Sun looked up at his opponent._  
_

A wave of dread and horror flushed through Sun.

Before him was every single shotgun shell he had fired, motionless, hanging in the air where Tristen had blocked them. Tristen had unequipped his broadsword again, hands in pockets, as the deafening cheers of the crowd had dropped to silence. Tristen chuckled, and moved a bang of hair out of his eye. "Well, Sun, that was...good. No, really. Interesting to watch!" Tristen exclaimed, whilst Sun stood silent in shock. "But _not_ good enough, I'm afraid."

He sighed and slowly raised his hand, until his palm faced towards Sun. "You did pretty good though. I actually had to bring my weapon out. Didn't need it in the first round, you see?" Tristen continued, his casual voice unnerving Sun, who remained paralysed with shock. Tristen sighed."You know, I hate doing this bit. It's a real shame. But my orders were clear, unfortunately."

His opponent looked directly into Sun's eyes, almost apologetic. "Goodbye, Sun."

With a flick of his wrist, the mass of shotgun shells in front of Sun ripped backwards, peppering Sun with his own gunfire. Sun flew backwards from the impact of thirty shotgun shells colliding with his arms and torso, and slumped on the floor unconscious. Crimson blood pooled underneath him, staining his white button shirt. More blood oozed out of the puncture wounds which covered his chest and stomach, forming red trails that ran down his sides. Sun twitched a couple times, before lying motionless.

* * *

Yang watched in horror as Blake screamed and sprinted towards the arena, leaping down into the pit and skidding down next to Sun's body. Yang, Ruby and the rest scrambled to their feet and raced down the steps, barging past the masses of shocked spectators who had gotten to their feet. Men dressed in white overalls rushed out towards the arena, carrying a stretcher and various medical supplies. Blake was cradling Sun's head in her arms, calling out his name, desperate for some response. _Any_ response.

Nothing.

The medics reached Sun's body, and hoisted him onto the stretcher. They began carrying him off quickly, even as Blake tried to cling onto him. Tears streamed down her face as she let go of his hand, and bent down to retrieve _Ruyi Bang_ and _Jingu Bang _from the jungle floor. She walked slowly out of the arena, sniffling, clutching Sun's blood-stained weapons to her chest.

Yang rushed to her partner and threw an arm around her, rubbing her back and wiping the tears from her pale cheeks. Ruby and the rest caught up, crowding around Blake to console their friend.

"I-I heard them. The m-medics." Blake whispered through her tears. Yang bowed her head to listen, clutching Blake's arm. "T-they're not sure if he's g-gonna...m-make it..." Blake finished, bursting into tears on Yang's shoulder again. Water brimmed up in Yang's eye at the sight of her distraught teammate. Weiss turned and raised her head to look at him, the monster who had done this.

Tristen walked away from the arena, hands in pockets. He disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel, never caring to look back even once.


	8. Like Watching Gods Fight

The crystal glinted in the moonlight, its peculiar white and grey pattern refracting the light into every crease and crevice of Weiss's palm as she examined it.

Weiss had worked hard on this one, meticulously crafting this new Dust crystal and praying that the volatile substance didn't explode in her face. It was unlike any Dust crystal ever created; technically, the heiress was a pioneer of a new form of Dust. Not that this form would be useful to the general populace of Remnant anyway. She turned the crystal over in her hand, inspecting its structure and colour. Satisfied, she finished her observations and took a few cautious steps further into the Emerald Forest. At the dead of night, she had to be especially wary of the creatures of Grimm...but this was the only place and the only time Weiss felt safe testing this new weapon. She carefully slotted the white-grey crystal into Mrytenaster's revolving dust chamber. She paused, holding her breath...nothing. The crystal was safe to test. She exhaled.

Weiss held her rapier in a defensive stance, as if facing a foe. Swinging the blade above her head and gripping its handle with both hands, she slammed the blade downwards into the earth.

No effect. Weiss sighed heavily; another unsuccessful test. As she began to get to her feet, a gust of wind began to rush past her, around her. The heiress paused and held her breath once more: _was it working?_

Waves of air began to spiral around her, accelerating and drawing leaves and debris off the ground. The waves began to merge, forming a circular wall of wind around the snowy haired girl. The wind still increased in velocity, now a twisting defensive wall scooping up twigs and pebbles. Weiss could barely believe her eyes as it grew _more_. Soon enough, the heiress was wide-eyed and gritting her teeth as a tremendous tornado had formed around her, the force of its air currents ripping branches cleanly from nearby trees and stretching all the way into the clouds above. She could only marvel at the ferocity of the weapon she had created in her desperation.

_To seize victory at any cost. The essence of a Schnee._

* * *

Another day, another match. Pyhrra found herself in the cafeteria with her teammates and Team RWBY. The only upset in their usual group was the absence of Blake, who was still at the infirmary watching over Sun. Replacing her at the table was an unusual guest: Penny.

She glanced to her partner Jaune. Yet again, he was having a little trouble cutting into his pork chop. She chuckled and leant over to him, slicing the meat along the grain in one, deft cut. Jaune nodded his silent thanks to her, finally beginning his meal. Ruby and Yang were deep in discussion with Penny. She was set to take on Tristen, the relatively unknown boy who had hospitalised Sun Wukong. In spite of this, Penny seemed as joyful as she ever was. The sisters were still rapidly talking over each other, trying to figure out what his semblance was, how to get past his defence, how Penny could take the advantage. Pyhrra didn't understand the fuss, really; in spite of Tristen's incredible power, she'd seen footage of Penny in combat at the docks against Roman Torchwick. Penny had power, and she had it in _buckets_.

Pyhrra was more concerned with her own feelings of awkwardness, as she sat directly opposite Weiss Schnee. The girl she was facing later today in the Bracket B semi-final. She couldn't seem to figure out whether there was a lingering tension across the table or not. Weiss sat quietly eating an apple, but seemed more engaged with practicing calligraphy in her notebook. Pyhrra dismissed the thought, and concluded that there should be no hard feelings between friends._ Once I've beaten Weiss, I'll be through to the Bracket B finals facing Ruby..._

She was excited to face the young red huntress eventually. It would be a fight worth remembering for the ages.

"...but it doesn't matter what dirty tricks he can do Penny. We believe in you!" Ruby exclaimed. She wore a smile that was as confident as if it were her who was going to fight today.

"Yeah! Don't forget though, once you win the Bracket A final, you've gotta take on the Bracket B winner-"

"Which is gonna be ME!" Ruby shouted, interrupting her sister's pep talk. Yang looked sternly at her younger relative, who stifled a giggle and put a hand to her mouth. "As I was _saying_, you'll take on the Bracket B winner. Whoever wins between you and whoever that is...takes the _whoooole cake_." Yang finished dramatically, folding her arms and leaning back. Everyone seemed to tune in at this point, naturally intruiged. Penny broke the momentary lull in conversation.

"Well you don't have to worry about _anything_, friends! I'm combat ready, and I'm gonna take this one for all of us!" Penny announced with a beaming smile. "Awwww _yeah!_" Ruby shouted in reply, banging her first onto the table. Yang's coffee spilt over her hand. She shot her sister a look which said it all. Ruby smiled weakly, trying to don puppy dog eyes to win her sister's forgiveness. Yang rolled her eyes and stopped staring..._success!_

"Best of luck, Penny! I'll be thinking of you...I just wish they'd stop booking matches at the same time." Ruby said glumly; yet again, two matches at two different stadiums starting almost simultaneously. She couldn't watch them both. Pyhrra spoke up.

"You know the Vytal Festival is only around for a couple weeks, Ruby. They have to fit in a lot of fights in a small window of time, and that's not even counting the second, third and fourth year tournaments." Ruby nodded reluctantly, slouching on her palm and poking at her food. Bless her, she did love to support her friends, but it was another case of having to let one down to back up another; in this case, Ruby had chosen to attend Weiss's match against Pyhrra herself. Those two were inseperable...not physically, but in spirit. They always seemed to be watching over one another's back, at least when Weiss wasn't lecturing Ruby on any manner of things.

The bell in the cafeteria rang out, signifying 1:00 PM. The group of friends finished up quickly and got to their feet; only a couple hours until the action began.

* * *

"...so basically Penny, all you need to do is hit him with a little of _this-_" Yang demonstrated an underarm punch with her left hand, "...and then push 'em back with some of _this-_" she followed up with a quick head-level jab, "...and then, finish the dork with a good ol' dose of _THIS!_" Yang finished her imaginary battle by presenting a roundhouse punch to her imaginary opponent's ear. She straightened up and smiled at Penny, crossing her arms.

"That's very kind of you to share those tips with me, Yang my friend. Thank you." Penny replied, returning the smile.

Penny doubted the usefulness of the blonde's brute-force tactical advice, but appreciated the sentiment of a friend anyway. Yang winked, gave Penny a hard pat on the shoulder and left to sit at the sidelines. Penny turned to face her opponent, standing alone on her podium. Casually sat down on his podium, Tristen was reading his Scroll with just 15 seconds left before the match started. He yawned, even as the stadium clock hit ten seconds remaining. Penny glanced down into the arena she would be fighting in. It was an odd, metallic landscape: square sheets of corrugated steel made up the floor, whilst stainless steel walls were dotted randomly throughout the area, providing some element of cover.

The clock hit five. The thrill of the crowd was audibly rising.

The clock hit three.

The clock hit zero.

Nothing.

* * *

Yang had returned to her seat just in time. She stood beside Blake, Nora and Ren, catching her breath and narrowing her eyes to focus on the arena. The clock hit zero...but neither competitor moved. The crowd died down, and a generalised sense of confusion seemed to linger. What were they _doing?_

Penny dropped from her podium into the arena, took a couple steps...and stopped again. Tristen looked up from his scroll, slunk down into the arena, and his hands yet again returned to his pockets, accompanying his typical hunch. Penny's backpack opened, and 12 swords levitated slowly out, spreading out in an arc above her head.

She flung her arm to the right, and the swords complied. The darted away, slicing cleanly through the steel walls and shattering them. The girl motioned the blades to the left, and yet again they obeyed her command. The swords obliterated the steel cover easily. Within a minute, she was done; the arena had been transformed into a flat surface, littered with shards of steel. Penny smiled, content with her work. The walls were just distractions anyway. She threw the swords forward as they collided with the wall behind Tristen: tiny wires connected from the weapons back to Penny. Tristen cocked his head, his interest piqued.

Penny pulled, and the concrete edge of the arena gave way, falling right on top of Tristen; as it collided, the concrete fragmented violently. A cloud of smoke and debris obscured vision of the arena. Blake strained her eyes to see through the grey mass hiding the action; Yang looked to her partner, hoping for an explanation.

The cloud finally cleared. Tristen was still standing, albeit he had equipped his broadsword and was brushing concrete from his shoulder, coughing. Penny smirked. "Oh you're good! But I'm not done yet!" She laughed as she once again lunged the swords towards him. They organised themselves into a circle around him, and attacked simultaneously: lurching, swinging, stabbing. Tristen sprung into action, forced on the defensive. He parried and blocked the 12 blades with his own sword, barely keeping up with the rapid series of attacks. Penny drove harder; the intensity of the attack increased as she willed the weapons to attack Tristen even faster. Tristen continued to defend, beginning to pant as he resisted the ferocious attack. All Penny had to do was stand still as her blades wore Tristen down into defeat. The boy stretched out his free hand to his side, narrowing his eyes and somehow dragging a concrete slab towards him.

Telekinesis. _That was his semblance_.

Penny had to think fast...he'd only be distracted a few moments more. How could she defeat an opponent who could control _everything? _She scanned through multiple potential attack strategies in her head, before settling on an idea she was content with.

Tristen batted the swords away with the enormous block of concrete, finally freeing himself from the lethal prison of Penny's swords. The weapons returned to her side, patiently awaiting their next command. He caught his breath, before finally straightening up and...smiling.

"That was _excellent_, Penny. Truly something else!" he called over. Penny ignored him, switching to her next offensive strategy. She motioned for the swords to organise themselves. They flew into position in a vertical circle in front of her, each sword transforming to a shortened structure and the circle began to rotate with growing velocity. She braced a leg behind her.

Penny took aim.

Tristen stared directly at the swords, his hand cautiously stretched in front of his body. He waited patiently for the next attack, and the smile had faded just a little. Still waiting..._still waiting_...

Penny released.

A phenomenal beam of green energy lanced out of the circle of swords. The crowd screamed in surprise, many covering their eyes to shield themselves from the immense luminosity of the energy; Blake in particular winced at the painfully bright light given off. Yang leaned over to shield her partner's eyes whilst squinted her own.

The column of vivid green ripped through the air towards Tristen. Penny's opponent took a solitary step back, his hand outstretched.

The green laser dissolved into a lime mist, right before his very palm. The energy was harmlessly converted into a hazy green fog, even as the electrifying display of power continued to pour in from Penny's swords. He maintained his position calmly, allowing the lime smoke to gently drift around him. Penny finally stopped and the swords broke away, waiting loyally by her sides. Her opponent still stood.

"You know, you could just throw in the towel, Penny. Wouldn't that be easier and quicker for _both_ of us?" Tristen shrugged his shoulders, a neutral expression gazing back at her. He wasn't even joking.

Penny scowled...she only had one trick left in her book. _I want to meet Ruby in the finals. I can't let my friend down!_ The thoughts raced through her mind. Penny launched her blades towards him once more with a flick of her arm. Tristen prepared his sword arm, ready to fight off the incoming weapons...

...which collided into the metallic ground at his feet.

The audience watched intensely as each sword crashed into the ground around Tristen. For each sword, there was an immense explosion of green flames: Yang, Blake, Nora and Ren watched in sheer awe as 12 enormous green detonations flashed in the arena, engulfing most of the arena - most of the _stadium_ - in a murky, sage vapour.

Several seconds passed as the fog cleared at a snail's pace.

The crowd were on the edge of their seats, many opting to stand; the tension held as fifty thousand spectators waited to see the end of the match. The fog finally cleared, revealing the arena below.

Tristen stood with his head bowed, plumes of green smoke wafting around his legs. He lowered his hands, releasing the thin layer of air he had used to deflect the extraordinary waves of heat and pressure; gradually, he raised his head and stared directly into Penny's eyes. The smile on his face had been replaced by blank, imposing neutrality. Penny stood still in disbelief, shock painted all over her.

"I think this has gone on long enough, now." his voice echoed through the empty space between them.

"Time for a little...payback, Penny."

With another gesture from his hand, the metal floor beneath both of them began to vibrate, escalating into shuddering. Within mere seconds the ground was rumbling wildly and resembled a catastrophic earthquake; the clattering of the metal panels had become deafening, even to the crowd.

Yang covered her partner's ears this time as Blake scrunched her eyes, trying to block out the noise. Ren gritted his teeth, frowning at the bewildering display before him.

In an instant, the entirety of the arena floor shattered; a hundred square metres of corrugated metal panels chaotically tore apart into fragments and shards of steel. Motioning upwards with his right arm, a million pieces of jagged metal gracefully levitated upwards obediently.

He scrunched his hand from an outstretched palm into a closed fist.

The pieces momentarily froze, before collapsing in on Penny from every possible direction. Even Nora looked on in sheer terror as the vast, dense cloud of metallic shards imploded down onto Penny. A scream reverberated from the arena, and the audience jolted back in horror. Their view of Penny was obstructed by the shifting mass of dull grey around her, sharp metal ripping past her for several seconds.

Finally, the metal dropped to the ground as Tristen lowered his hand. Penny followed the metal downwards, collapsing on her side and curling up into a ball.

* * *

Yang didn't hear the sound of her friends calling out to Penny. She didn't hear the announcer half-heartedly declare Tristen the victor, nor did she register the uproar of the crowd, the panic and the strife around her. She only watched, somewhat paralysed in disbelief and shock.

She saw the men come out to collect Penny; her aura bar was flashing dangerously low in the red zone. They were medics. Maybe. They wore black overalls, and rapidly collected a near-unconscious Penny, supporting her on each shoulder as she barely managed to walk. She tripped twice on the way out of the arena, trying to curl up defensively both times. The men in black ushered photographers away, and escorted a broken Penny out of the stadium as quick as they could.

Yang's Scroll rang. She answered without taking her eyes off the pandemonium below.

"Yang?" she heard her little sister's voice in her ear.

"...H-hello Ruby.." Yang stuttered out. She still stared downwards. Still in shock.

"Weiss won, Weiss won! Yang, Weiss won her match and I'm totally gonna face her in the Bracket B final, it's gonna be so cool and you gotta be there! And..." Yang tuned out halfway through Ruby's speech. Yang took a seat; her quivering legs couldn't hold the bruiser up anymore.

Ruby looked down at her Scroll...Yang wasn't replying.

"Yang? Yang? Yaaaaang, can you hear me? I think my Scroll's broken, hold on a sec..."

Yang swallowed and fought back the water gathering in her eyelid.

_Either Weiss or my sister is going to have to face this monster._


	9. The Rose and the Snow

Ruby paced back and forth in the locker room, her mind racing wildly.

Today was the day: this was the day she'd been waiting for.

Today, mere minutes away, she was going to face Weiss in the arena.

She had butterflies in her stomach, ants in her pants, her heart was beating relentlessly fast...everything about the red huntress was on edge. Ruby found herself quivering and trembling, not through fear, but because of sheer energy and anticipation. She needed to burn this excess energy off; it was _unbearable_.

She darted left and right with her semblance, speeding around the lockers and littering the floor with rose petals. Finally, her big sister caught her and held her steady.

"_Ruby!_ You need to _calm,_ _down_." Yang spoke slowly, somehow hoping this might in turn bring Ruby down a few notches. It certainly did not work. Ruby bounced up and down, her eyes darting all over the place, a couple seconds later, she finally registered Yang's voice.

"I can't I can't I can't I can't _I CAN'T!_" Ruby's speech came out in a frenzy, still shuddering like a jackhammer. "You don't get it Yang, I'm fighting Weiss and it's the Bracket B _FINAL!_ I'm so excited but I'm so nervous and my heart feels like it's going to explode out my chest and I've gotta pee and I won't be able to aim Crescent Rose 'cos I'm shaking so much and did I mention I'm kinda nervous and-"

Yang put her hand over Ruby's mouth, silencing her never-ending panic speech. Yang bear hugged her sister as tight as she could, and as she'd hoped for, her sister fought back, wriggling frantically and tensing in an attempt at escape. This is exactly what Yang had intended...it gave her sister the chance to work off some energy without exhausting herself too much. Yang sighed; this would have been easier had Blake been here too, but Blake was over in the other locker room supporting the princess.

An arduous thirty seconds of mayhem later, Yang released her overexcitable little sister, who shook her ruffled hair like a dog. She pouted up at the blonde, still shifting from foot to foot. It would have to do; at least she'd removed _some_ of Ruby's nervous energy. Ruby cleared her throat, and looked directly at Yang with those puppy eyes.

"Yang, I know that...you might think that I'm being stupid, or immature or something..." she sincerely said, "...but this match means so much to me. More than _anything_. And that's why I'm scared, big sis..." Yang felt a rush of pride flow through her. Here was her little sister, still confiding her feelings to her after so many years of growing up together. Yang pulled her sister into a gentle embrace this time. "You're going to do _amazing_, Ruby. I just know it. Not many huntresses get into Beacon Academy two years early, ya know..." she said, patting her little sister on the back before releasing Ruby.

"Besides, if you can fight _half_ as well as your big sis, you'll win this in your sleep!" Yang winked, before her smile faded into a more serious manner.

"I wish you all the luck in the _world_, Ruby Rose."

Ruby returned with a goofy grin.

"Thank you Yang."

Yang watched her sister leave the locker room, heading out towards the arena. She dashed out, desperate to get back to her seat before the match started.

* * *

Weiss shared one last brief hug with Blake, exhaling deeply on her teammate's shoulder, before they nodded to each other and Weiss departed. The heiress stepped out of the locker room door, before panicking and checking that Myrtenaster was with her. She glanced down. The rapier sat in its hilt on her left hip. Weiss forced herself to calm down; _you're just nervous. Extremely nervous. Petrified, in fact._

_Why do I feel like this?_

Weiss ascended the steps and strode into the stadium. The view was inspiring...and terrifying. Thousands lined the oval stadium stands, the sound of their mere chattering nearly overwhelming her. She continued on, walking to her podium in what seemed like a never ending journey; the collective staring of all those spectators seemed to bore into her skin. She reached her destination with quivering legs, gripped by stage fight. Across from her, 100 metres away, stood a girl in a red cape. Ruby Rose. Weiss resisted the urge to swallow anxiously, holding her ground, posture perfect.

Ruby saw the white haired girl arrive on the podium opposite her. Finally, she had arrived: her opponent, her teammate, her partner...her closest friend. Ruby repressed the sensation of nervous shuddering that seemed to make itself known in every possible inch of her body. It was nigh unbearable: despite her sister's best efforts, that anxious energy had returned to Ruby, and she felt like she was going to burst open at any second. She desperately needed for the match to start soon; otherwise, Ruby felt she was liable to start sprinting around the stadium just to tire herself out. _Please please please start the match!_

She jumped, barely preventing herself from shrieking, as the thunderous voice of the marshal came blaring out of speakers across the stadium. She blocked out the irritating announcements, focusing only on the enormous stadium clock, high above her to her right. The sunshine was yet again glaring down on the two competitors in an unanticipated heat wave, illuminating the grasslands-based arena below them.

The clock moved to twenty seconds; Ruby glanced across, and it was apparent that neither huntress was focused on anything but each other now. They were in the zone, and _only_ they were allowed in it.

Ten seconds. Yang just reached Blake and Team JNPR in time in the stands, her eyes wide open and breathing rapidly. Pyhrra was just as captivated, her heart rate elevated; and she wasn't even competing.

Five seconds.

Weiss drew Myrtenaster swiftly. Ruby equipped Crescent Rose just as quickly.

Two.

One.

* * *

"_HyaaaaAAAAA!_" Ruby cried out as she flew towards her opponent, as fast as she could possibly move. Racing just as fiercely towards her, Weiss had cast glyphs on the floor to maximise her velocity. Within a second, Ruby and Weiss collided in the middle; rapier met scythe in a cataclysmic implosion.

The sound of the metallic _CLASH_ rang out across the stadium.

The crowd got to their feet. They were _ecstatic_. The cheering and shouting really was deafening this time, many getting to their feet at the sight of such an electrifying attack.

Ruby and Weiss recoiled off each other, staggering several meters backwards from the force of the colossal initial impact. Dazed, Ruby shook her head and lurched forwards again: she cried out a battle cry once more, and Weiss accelerated just as hard towards her, propelling herself with more glyphs.

And yet again, Mrytenaster clashed with Crescent Rose.

The audience went wild again, watching the inconceivable might of the encounter. Blake's mouth was agape, and Jaune's eyes looked like they were about to pop out.

The smashing of metal on metal was so overpowering, it was audible above the roar of the audience.

Ruby and Weiss found themselves blown outwards away from each other. Both took a fleeting moment to look into the other's eyes, panting...before they lunged ferociously at each other _again_. The metallic noise once again resonated across the stands, the spirit of the crowds at an all time audible high.

Yang tore her eyes away from the mind-blowing action below, and spared a second to look at the aura bars on the stadium screen. She didn't believe her eyes.

Nothing. In spite of the intensity of the awe inspiring clashes, neither Ruby nor Weiss had even allowed a _shred_ of their aura to be taken. Yang nudged Blake disbelievingly, pointing out this feat. Blake's reaction was similar, barring that she found her voice and managed to respond.

"I...don't believe it. They haven't taken even a tiny bit of aura damage? They must be pouring every ounce of energy they've _got_ into this!" the faunus exclaimed. Pyhrra nodded in agreement, not daring to break her focus on the arena.

After six stupefyingly almighty collisions, both Weiss and her red opponent stopped to catch their breath.

This was _exhausting_.

Both of them were going in with incredibly intense hits, waiting for the other to make even the slightest mistake...and hoping to immediately exploit that. They stood tall again, fixated on each other. Ruby could have sworn she saw the corner of the heiress's mouth curl upwards just slightly.

"I hope you're ready, Ruby._ I'm just getting warmed up._" Weiss called out 20 meters away. Ruby grinned deviously.

"And so am I! You haven't seen _nothing_ yet!" she shouted out in reply. The two of them glared intensely...and dived at each other again.

The contact lasted this time, however, and with their faces just inches away, the two began to chain moves together, fencing at a speed barely discernible to the watching masses. Crescent Rose was swung under, from above, from the side: Weiss parried and deflected all. Similarly, every stab and every slice that Weiss attempted was promptly blocked by Ruby. They were caught in a dead heat; a very rapid, extremely lethal dead heat, but that was what it was nonetheless. Neither could break through the other's defences.

Regardless, the hectic dance of sword and scythe continued.

Yang watched intently, trying to figure out if her sister had a strategy in mind. She couldn't spot any discernible pattern or plan: and that worried her. Because Weiss would _certainly_ have a highly detailed plan in mind. The blond glanced to her right. Heck, even _Nora_ had her eyes glued to the action.

Weiss put an emphatic halt to their encounter, parrying the scythe once more and separating the two huntresses. They both panted, desperately recovering the air they'd been so short of in the midst of battle. Ruby looked down at Weiss's left hand, twiddling with the Dust chamber on Mrytenaster-

She was going to use a Dust attack any second now.

Ruby flashed rightwards with her semblance, rose petals in her wake. Weiss kept her focus laser-like on the red dash, preparing burn Dust. Ruby rolled into a crouch and flipped Crescent Rose's scope up, firing off two rounds at Weiss. The first one struck true at Weiss's shin, being absorbed by her aura; disappointingly the second harmlessly went off target.

Weiss decided to retaliate.

With a _swish_ motion, Mrytenaster erupted lances of fire from its tip, ripping towards Ruby. She dived away - but not quick enough. The flames licked at Ruby's ankles, and she winced at the excruciating heat before scrambling away again.

Jaune took a second to observe the screen. The two of them had removed some of each other's aura...but not a lot. It was only then that Jaune marvelled at the damage they'd _already_ done to the arena: blades of grass had been beheaded all over the place by their swordplay, whilst blackened streaks of turf had been created as a result of Weiss's fire.

"So, you want to play, do you Red?" the heiress taunted. Ruby couldn't help but giggle. "I thought we were already playing, Weiss! This is a lotta fun!"

Weiss smiled back, before instantly removing the pleasant facial expression and donning a glare.

_Dammit__, I'm supposed to present myself as serious. It's the Bracket B final, I can't appear...unprofessional. Not even for my dolt._

_THE dolt. Not mine._ Weiss corrected herself, irritated with her own mind.

Weiss ignored both her partner's sentiments and her own, and began her next offensive manoeuvre. Loading black Dust into her rapier, she struck the sword into the earth below her...and an enormous fog of black smoke exploded around her, creating an arena of shadows.

The audience gasped, their view of the battle completely obscured. Yang crossed her fingers.

Weiss zig-zagged towards her opponent, who was still unable to see her approaching. Ruby noticed at the last second: a dash of white moving left and right, headed straight for her. Weiss shot forward at her, swiping with Mrytenaster through the blackness.

Nothing. Her target had disappeared.

_What?!_

Weiss looked upward, and there she was: Ruby Rose had escaped by firing Crescent Rose downwards, launching herself high above. The fog began to clear...and an instant later, Ruby was diving downwards with her scythe - right at Weiss.

Weiss had just enough time: she cast a protective glyph, combined it with a sheet of ice before herself, and established a defensive stance.

The tremendous force of the scythe impact broke through the ice shield and the glyph...but was effectively brought to a halt by Weiss's blocking move. Weiss skidded backwards on her feet, her rapier still held in front of her face defensively. The dark mist had finally dissipated, granting the crowds to watch the spectacle unfold.

"Whooaaaah, they're _really_ going for it!" exclaimed Jaune, standing on his tip toes and peering over the heads in front of him. Ren grinned in silent agreement.

Ruby yanked Crescent Rose out of the turf, and brought her gaze up to look at Weiss. watched Weiss slowly lower her sword from her face...and didn't quite believe what she saw.

Weiss was laughing like Ruby had never seen her laugh before; and she wore a wide, if mischievous smile. Ruby simply couldn't help herself: it was the most _adorable_ thing she'd ever seen and heard. Weiss looked so thrilled, so happy to be here in the arena with Ruby, right in this moment: and instinctively, Ruby giggled, completely incapable of containing her goofy grin. And for several seconds, the two partner's could not stop laughing, completely out of breath...in the middle of a tournament final.

_Who cares about professional,_ Weiss thought to herself as she relented to the glee she felt. _This is indescribable. This is what I've been searching for._ She eradicated all thoughts of her father, her family, the Schnee legacy: she pushed them aside from her mind with ease. It was the most alive she'd ever felt.

This was what counted, right here and now. In the epicentre of her greatest moment, in the company of a silly girl she called her closest friend. Ruby Rose.

"Hey, what are they _doing_? They're just...stood there, laughing! What gives?" shouted someone a couple rows behind Blake.

Blake shook her head, grinning. Most people would never understand that feeling that Blake knew existed between the two partners, down in the arena below: it was a bond that couldn't be described with words accurately.

It was the kind of bond that could only truly be seen in the midst of a heated encounter. It was the kind of bond that could only be conveyed through a laugh, or a smile, or the kind of intense fixation with which Ruby and Weiss stared at each other now.

This was the single greatest moment of both of their lives.

And though she did not show it particularly, Blake was euphoric that both she and Yang were here to witness it; to see two girls who were tied to each other in a manner beyond explainable.

* * *

Ruby finally stopped her giggles, though the beaming grin she wore on her face felt like it would be stuck there forever. Weiss had finished laughing too, but similarly, she still adorned that warm smile. It was the same smile she'd had when Ruby had tried to follow her out to midnight training, back before the tournament had even begun. The same smile Weiss had shown when she'd kissed Ruby on the forehead.

"You know, Ruby...we should really finish up sometime soon." Weiss said smoothly. Ruby sighed just a little.

"I kinda...don't want to finish, Weiss." Ruby meekly replied.

The heiress grinned a little more. "I know. I feel exactly the same. But...I still have _one_ more trick to show you!"

Ruby giggled again, unable to stop herself and uncaring about it, hefted Crescent Rose onto her shoulder. "Alright Weiss, show me everything you've got!"

Weiss nodded, and spun the Dust chamber until it clicked neatly onto the new white-grey setting. She raised the rapier above her head gradually, before slamming the blade down into the ground. In an instant, Ruby looked around as the wind picked up; her cape began to flap wildly in the rapidly accelerating turbulent air.

The audience watched in awe as the gusts of wind aligned themselves and within seconds, a great, violent tornado had formed around Weiss. The dark grey twister ripped tufts of earth from the arena ground and spat them out in the clouds high above. Ruby took a few cautious steps back from the hurricane, deciding her next move to get through this incredible barrier. Weiss took a solitary step forwards, and the tornado complied, moving with her one foot closer to Ruby. _So it can be used to attack AND defend,_ Ruby realised.

Pyhrra leant over to Blake, shouting to be heard over the din of the tornado.

"Blake! Blaaaake! Do you think Ruby has a plan for this?!" Blake shook her head, trying to control the loose strands of her hair which were being blown all over the place.

"I don't see how she could! Ruby's never encountered this kind of attack before!" Blake yelled over the noise.

"So what is she going to do?"

"She'll do what she always does!" Yang shouted, chiming into the barely audible conversation. "Go in headstrong, always pushing forwards!" Yang finished, grinning and turning her attention back to the commotion in the arena. _Whatever happens, Ruby, I'm more proud of you for this fight than I've EVER been, _Yang thought to herself.

Ruby smirked and stared at the hurricane before her, still keeping Weiss safe from the world.

_I always wanted you to let your walls down Weiss, to let me in..._

_Guess I'll just have to break through to you myself._

Ruby tightened her grip on Crescent Rose one last time...before dashing as fast as she could towards the twister, rose petals streaming behind her.

"Here I come Weiss! I hope you're readdddyyyyyyyy!" Ruby screamed as she screeched across the battered ground...straight through the edge of the storm.

"_Ruby_!" Blake, Jaune, Pyhrra and Ren simultaneously called out, their eyes wide and fearful. Yang merely folded her arms, trusting her little sister unconditionally.

* * *

Weiss blinked her sapphire eyes a few times. She found that she was looking straight up at the summer sky. She rolled onto her side, still lying on the ground; Myrtenaster lay at her side, and she recognised was still in the stadium.

Of course she was...but where was her partner?

The heiress craned her head to look across the sorely mistreated grasslands arena. Not lying so far away, she spotted the red huntress.

Ruby groaned, her head reeling...she felt like she was waking up, but that wasn't true. The last three seconds had just been so eventful, it had felt like three hours...she remembered dashing forwards, feeling more alive than she ever had. She remembered clashing one more time with a smiling Weiss, in the middle of a _tornado_...

She swung upwards, frantically looking for her scythe...it was right next to her. Ruby spotted her white haired partner, just meters away, also staring back at her on the ground. They exchanged a wordless smile.

They didn't even seem bothered if the match was still on or not.

Ruby looked up to her right, staring at the stadium screen. Weiss followed suit. Both of them paused in awe.

Both of their aura bars were flashing red. They looked back to each other. Ruby cocked her head, silently showing her confusion to Weiss...the heiress simply shrugged.

"I...I-I don't believe it! It's a TIE!" came the stuttering announcement from the marshal. The crowd burst into cheering, applauding the match, but none of that was even remotely important.

Yang paused momentarily. Blake and the four members of Team JNPR turned to her, curious as to what the big sister's reaction would be...

Yang began jumping up and down celebrating, screaming Ruby's name like a lunatic. Blake rolled her eyes, laughed heartily and joined in with enthusiastic clapping. Team JNPR mirrored their reaction, their jubilations among the loudest for a truly unbelievable match.

Ruby staggered to her feet; she quickly noticed how lacking of energy she was, making small steps towards Weiss. Weiss was similarly drained, pushing herself off the ground and steadying her balance. They met face to face with weapons sheathed, unsure what to say, or whether to speak at all.

Instead, Weiss went out on a limb.

She threw her arms around Ruby, pulling her into a tight embrace and clutching at Ruby's back.

Ruby was momentarily caught off guard, before she felt a wave of wonderful warmth flow through her, and blood rushed through her cheeks, painting them a vibrant pink.

She returned Weiss's embrace as hard as she could, burrowing her head into Weiss's neck and nuzzling her like a puppy. Her hands reached around Weiss's ribs and gripped onto her back, pulling the two even closer together. She felt her partner rest her head atop hers, stroking through the strands of the brunette's hair as the two remained locked together. The waves of ecstasy continued to resonate within Ruby. They both swayed a little, either with passion or exhaustion. Perhaps both.

They shared only six words.

"Thank you, Ruby."

"Thank you Weiss."

Blake wiped away a tear that was welling up in her eye, watching the two huntresses clutching each other in a rare display of affection. She sniffed and struggled to control those _damn_ tears. Yang spotted this, water brimming up in her eyelid too after watching her sister's actions. She flung her arms around Blake similarly. They both seemed to shed a few tears and laugh simultaneously, consumed by joy.

The crowd has descended into a mass 'aww'ing, a polite applause spreading around the stadium as the two competitors held their embrace.

Ruby didn't want to let go.

And so she didn't.

She tried to signify this to Weiss; she gripped onto her just a little tighter, resting her head on the heiress's collarbone a little more lovingly.

Weiss seemed to reciprocate the emotion, exhaling deeply and cupping her hand around Ruby's head.

She didn't let go either.


	10. Exhausted Partners

The door creaked open slowly; Yang cringed a little, opening it even slower to try avoid making even the slightest sound. Several tense seconds later, she had leveraged the dormitory door open just barely enough for her and Blake to peek through - they poked their heads around anxiously. In an instant, Yang's heart _melted_.

The icy natured heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss, was flat out asleep in her bed. She was laid on her side, her shoulder rising up and down gently in her slumber. She hadn't even had the energy to change into her night gown; Weiss had clearly crawled under the covers in her combat skirt, only taking off her jacket and shoes, which was strewn across the dorm floor. However, the sleeping princess was only half of the equation.

Lying right next to her under the duvet was Ruby Rose...who had managed to remove only her boots. She was nestled in against Weiss, and was also absolutely worn out, dreaming away. Her head was resting next to the heiress's neck, whilst Weiss's ponytail was spilt across Ruby's shoulder. Their breathing rates soon synchronised, as the two rose and fell a little at the same time. The two were completely out of it - not even remotely disturbed by the creaking of the door.

Yang fought an immense internal struggle to prevent an overexcited squeal at the scene before her. Blake couldn't wipe the enormous grin off her face, before she saw her own partner's predicament: Blake pulled Yang back out of the dorm, creaking the door closed, and the two stifled their giggling just outside the room.

"They're holding hands Blakey! Did you see that? _Did you see it?! THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS WHILE THEY SLEEP!_" Yang exclaimed in a half-whisper, half-scream tone. The blonde was teetering on her tip toes in her hysteria. Blake put one hand over her partner's mouth and steadied Yang's jittering with the other.

"..Yes, I did see that Yang. _Perhaps_, we should...ask to stay in Team JNPR's room tonight." Yang gave the faunus girl a puzzled look. Blake continued. "It's only 7PM right now...which I guess makes it all the more adorable. But the way those two fought earlier today...they're gonna need all the sleep they can get. Plus, they'll be _traumatised_ if they wake up together with us in the room."

Yang brought her hand to her chin, pondering over the situation. Blake decided to play to Yang's mischeivous side.

"Plus, we could keep this as our little...secret. Slowly drop teasing suggestions on them over the next year. Keep them on edge." Blake suggested with a wink. Yang grinned deviously. "I'm glad you've been paying attention to my lessons, Blake. My influence is already _all over you._" Blake rolled her eyes.

"A disturbing premise. I should spend less time around you, Yang Xiao Long...speaking of which, I've got to dash off...guess I'll have to skimp on that whole 'sleepover at Team JNPR's dorm' thing. Visiting hours for the hospital are extended tonight, so I'm going to check up on Sun."

"Oh, okay...how's he doing?"

"Improving. He still hasn't awoken...but...the puncture wounds have healed up nicely, and his vitals are strong...so I guess he's at least on the road to recovery." Blake bowed her head with a stressful sigh. Yang set her hand on Blake's shoulder, giving a gentle rub. The black haired girl turned to leave, but Yang held on.

"Blake...wait a second." Blake halted and stood patiently. The smile had dropped from the blonde's face and sunk to a near frown. "I was wondering if...if you could stay with me tonight."

"Why? Is...something wrong, Yang?"

Yang paused and was fiddling with her fingers, staring at the floor with concern written all over her face. "Blake, you realise Ruby and Weiss tied their match"

"I remember. What about it?"

"...Ozpin and Goodwitch sat me down and had a chat with me, not long after I went down to collect Ruby after the match ended. They said..." Yang swallowed and exhaled, "...Blake..._both_ Ruby _and_ Weiss will...have to face that Tristen...guy..." Yang stuttered out. She was anxiously pulling through strands of her golden locks. "I just...I don't want to sleep on that thought. I _can't_ sleep on that thought."

Blake nodded once. "Of course I'll stay with you tonight. I...know how this must all feel. I can visit Sun tomorrow."

The two partners hugged, a brief moment of comfort for both. Strange how they had been so elated and giddy just minutes ago, gawking at their two napping teammates...only to be forced to confront their awful real world issues. Life was not fair. That was a fact.

They released, and Blake gave Yang an understanding smile.

"Come on blondey. Let's go ask JNPR if we can stay with them tonight - we can try make Pyhrra feel really awkward by dropping some light 'suggestions' about Jaune, if you'd like..."

Yang chuckled quietly, nodding in mischeivous agreement. They stepped silently across the hallway towards JNPR's dorm.

* * *

The melody of morning birds chittering and tweeting came softly through the open windows.

Weiss had awoken, but she refused to open her eyes.

She still felt entirely frazzled, despite feeling as if she'd slept for a week. Dull, throbbing aches were intermittently groaning all down her arms and legs, particularly in her thigh and calf muscles.

A warm shape seemed to exist next to the heiress, pressed along her body. She didn't care to use her eyes to find out what it was. It felt nice - relaxing, like a soothing bubble bath.

Its presence was somehow ameliorating the pains that flashed throughout her being, but primarily Weiss was indulging in the calming, sedative effect of this warm object, as it numbed her mind and her worries seemed to slip into irrelevancy. Rather infatuated with the warmth, the heiress pulled her arm back under the covers. It seems she'd left one arm out of the duvet...odd. Regardless, she snaked her free arm around the curve of this heated object, and pulled the object closer, tighter against her chest.

Wait. _Wait._

_This feels a lot like a body._

Weiss rapidly opened her sapphire eyes.

Before her was a quickly awakening Ruby Rose. The brunette was groaning, as if slowly exiting a dream, leaning on Weiss. The heiress panicked, looking for a quick escape. Nothing. Weiss was between the wall and Ruby - she'd have to clamber over Ruby to get away

_Oh god._..

Ruby's silver eyes shuddered open and raised her head to look at Weiss, yawning.

"Ughhgh...good morning, Weiss." the young huntress said.

"Daahhh!" Weiss yelped, shooting backwards away from Ruby. She hit the wall behind her. "R-Ruby Rose! W-what are you _d-doing_ in my bed?! I don't...what...how are we..." she sputtered out. Ruby looked nonchalant, lowering her head back onto the pillow. Weiss, meanwhile, was propped up on her elbow defensively.

"Wellll, when I came back from the stadium, you were already unconscious in your bed...and I was exhausted...and I...was kinda cold, and...I...snuggled in?" Ruby meekly replied, hiding her face in the pillow slightly. Weiss was vexed, struggling to find words to scold her partner with. No words seemed to form for her.

"R-Ruby, I should think that - that - did you not think of - why would you _think_ I would permit y-you to-"

"But Weeeiiiissss...when I got into your bed, I was really really really tired, so I hugged you and you put your arm around me while you were asleep?" Ruby said innocently. The heiress was lost for words, looking around incredulously and trying to appear as angry as possible. She searched for powerful words she could use to yell at the girl before her - _livid, indignant, furious, inconsiderate, improper. _In the end, no speech came out of her mouth; instead, Weiss just looked flustered, blushing wildly as wave after wave of hot blood rushed through her reddening cheeks.

"...And then later on, I was just about to drift off, and we kinda...held hands and then I fell asleep..." Ruby continued. Weiss wanted the 'list of things she'd done with her partner whilst unconscious' to stop. Immediately. She intervened.

"_Excuse_ me, Red, but I did n-not give you permission to sleep next t-"

"I was wondering...do you want to have a...lazy morning? Just me and you?" Ruby interrupted. Weiss was flabbergasted, and again she tried to call up imposing words to decline: _absolutely __no, definitely not, never in a million years, no way in hell._ The trouble was, the heiress could not seem to muster the ability to lie. She remained silent a few seconds, refusing eye contact with Ruby and still trying to look mad, before succumbing to her own desires.

"...Okay." Weiss whispered. She tucked herself nervously back into the bed, before laying as straight and motionless as a stick. Ruby stared at the display of awkwardness. _Gotta break down Weiss's walls, somehow..._

She rolled over and pressed up against Weiss, who didn't seem to loosen up as her eyes darted all over the place. In fact, she only seemed to be internally panicking more.

Ruby took one of Weiss's hands and played with it, their fingers wrapping and unwrapping around each other. She pulled the heiress closer as Weiss gasped in surprise.

They lay there momentarily, and Weiss rallied her courage to react a little. She tentatively circled her arms around Ruby's waist, her cheeks once again flushing bright crimson, and barely gripped onto Ruby's back. Again, the two lay there awkwardly; both wanted to fully delve into the embrace, but neither had the bravery.

They waited. Body against body, skin against skin.

Awkwardness against awkwardness.

Weiss sighed, relenting. She'd had enough.

No more of this.

The heiress rolled Ruby on top of herself, much to the younger girl's surprise; Ruby lay on her back on Weiss's torso. She wrapped both arms tightly around Ruby, one hand cradling Ruby's head whilst Weiss's other hand grasped at the back of Ruby's hand.

Ruby twisted her head with pleasure as she felt delicate fingers stroke through her hair and down her neckline, over and over. Their legs were a tangled mess down the bed, engaging in some unexplained game in which they padded at each other's feet. And Weiss held onto Ruby's hand as if she were a balloon that might soar away at any second.

"Hey Weiss-"

"No talking, Red. It can wait."

Ruby grinned and further reclined into Weiss's slim body.

Weiss exhaled, and relaxed in the tranquility of the moment. A cool morning breeze continued to enter through the open dorm window, negated by the nurturing heat of Ruby's abnormally high metabolism. She continued to stroke through the brunette's locks, leaning her chin atop her partner's scalp.

Aching and still weary, the two drifted into dreams once more.

Together.


	11. What Kills Us the Most

"No."

Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch exchanged a worried glance.

"Miss Schnee, are you asbolutely _sure _that you don't want t-"

"I said no." Weiss interrupted. Goodwitch sighed; the heiress was as stubborn as a mule, refusing to relent. Ozpin decided to make another attempt.

"Miss Schnee, Professor Goodwitch and I are trying to make this clear to you: forfeiting this match is _not_ a cowardly action. Given what we've seen of this...Tristen, we highly recommend that you consider-"

"Consider what, sir? Throwing in the towel and handing that creep the trophy through fear? That might be what somebody _weak_ would do, but _not me._ I, won't, quit!" came Weiss's reply. At this point, Ruby butted in.

"Professor Ozpin sir, with all due respect, Weiss can handle herself, sir! And...I believe in her!" Ruby exclaimed, motioning to her partner sat next to her. Weiss remained steadfast, sitting perfectly straight in her chair, eyes fixed on the two teachers. Glynda Goodwitch made one final, desperate outreach.

"Weiss, may I remind you of Tristen's track record so far in the competition. First, he defeated Zoe, one of Team AZRE, in a mere 15 seconds. In his second match, he _hospitalised _Sun Wukong with Sun's own gunfire. And just days ago, he eliminated Penny from the tournament, and since then Penny has been taken back t-"

Ozpin set a hand on Glynda's, and they exchanged a glance. Goodwitch had fallen silent instantly. Ruby narrowed her eyes a little; what had just happened? Where _was_ Penny?

"Miss Schnee, if you wish to compete, we will not prevent your participation. However, it is our duty to make sure you are aware of the...severe risks involved in doing so. Even now, it's not too late to pull out of the match. The waiting crowds will be...frustrated, of course, but that shouldn't be a problem." Ozpin said, sipping yet more coffee. Weiss stood from the table which separated them.

"I understand the risks. But I won't be like the rest, sir." With that, Weiss turned to exit the dimly lit meeting room. Ruby sprung to her feet and followed the heiress out.

* * *

Ruby caught up with the snowy haired huntress with a dash of her semblance. They marched side by side along the desolate hallway, approaching the locker room. Ruby had no words for her partner, and yet she desperately craved to be able to reassure Weiss; to tell her she could do it, tell her she was going to win for sure. But she couldn't form the sentences, for she felt fear for her partner. What Weiss was about to face...Ruby felt her breathing quicken, and nervous jitters began to creep over her.

They arrived at the locker room, and Weiss instantly began equipping herself - opening a nearby locker, she pulled out the combat essentials. Her combat boots, many crystals of Dust, and of course, her fabled Myrtenaster. She took the sword gracefully, inspecting its hilt and its blade, before securing it on her hip. After strapping her boots on firmly, she stood and faced Ruby. The two exchanged expressions which said more than words ever could.

Ruby slowly trudged towards Weiss, until they were centimetres apart. The red huntress looked at the heiress, gulping and playing with her hands nervously.

She broke, and flung her arms around Weiss. Weiss returned the embrace, clutching onto Ruby's back and holding her head as she felt dampness on her shoulder, occasional droplets of her partner's tears soaking through the fabric of her jacket.

"...W-Weiss, I'm...I'm scared..." sniffed Ruby, her voice muffled as her head remained pressed into Weiss's clothes. The heiress exhaled, trying to control her own rising heart rate.

"..I'm scared too, Ruby." Weiss said through a sigh.

"I-if that Tristen g-guy goes too far, o-or he h-hurts you, I swear I'll come down there...and I-I'll-"

"No, Ruby." came Weiss's interruption. "I need you to promise me that." Ruby brought her head up; her silver eyes perplexed and full of fear.

"I need you to promise me...that you won't intervene. No matter _what_ happens." Ruby paused, shaking her head.

"...W-Weiss, I won't stand by whilst h-he-"

"Do you trust me, Ruby?" Ruby nodded anxiously, sniffing and brushing wetness from her eyes.

"O-of course."

"Then promise me. I need you to promise me that you'll let me keep fighting until the very end."

Tears brimmed up in Ruby's eyes again, and she fought desperately against them with rapidly stuttering eyelids. She nodded reluctantly, and the two partners locked into another hug, holding on as if it were their last moments together.

Several seconds later, they pulled apart, still holding each other's arms as the fear of what was to come gripped their minds. Ruby leaned her forehead on Weiss's, cherishing the moment just a little longer.

Ruby felt herself leaning her head in a little closer, the action coming so naturally to her. Weiss mirrored her movement, similarly drawing closer without thinking about her actions. The distance between their lips narrowed, and Ruby slid her arms around the heiress's back and onto her shoulders. Weiss's arms held around Ruby's waist a little tighter. Panic raced through the heiress's mind, her thoughts a mess.

_What am I doing? Why am I..._

They closed their eyes, closing the gap between their mouths slowly. Mere millimetres separated their lips now. Ruby shifted her lips, ready for...

A loud bell rang out in the locker room. Weiss jolted back from the near kiss, swallowing nervously and slipping out of Ruby's hands.

"...It's time. I-I have to go fight now." Weiss whispered. She walked away, approaching the door to the stadium centre. She paused, glancing over her shoulder at Ruby, who stared back longingly. Every fibre of Weiss's being yearned to forget about the match, forget about Tristen, and return to those entrancing silver eyes.

But the world was cruel, and would not leave them be. Fate had brought them together just weeks ago; now it was tearing them apart again, like fragments of a mirror.

She had to do this. She had to go out and face Tristen.

No matter what happened in this match, Ruby would be facing Tristen afterwards. That made this all the more important.

She had to prove to Ruby that this monster wasn't invincible. Somehow.

She opened the door, and once more stepped out into the stadium.

* * *

Ruby had accelerated back into the stands as fast as she could, zipping in next to her big sister and the others. She had harassed Professor Ozpin relentlessly to make sure that they got good seats, and he'd agreed to it; they sat right by the action, low down, practically on the sidelines. Yang looked down at her little sister. No smile on Ruby's face today - in place of it was an expression of dread. Ruby's hands hung by her side, frantically fidgeting her fingers. Yang grimaced, realising she had no words to adequately console her with.

Out in the centre, Weiss was approaching her podium. Tristen stood still and silent, fixated on the heiress as she took her position opposite him. Below them was another spacious arena, a circle of 100 metre diameter. This arena was more eye-candy than it was practical battle space. Everything was made of glass. The floor was solid glass, as were the huge blocks which were dotted around the arena, each 7 feet high and serving as spots of cover for the competitors. At the very centre of the arena was a tall, pristine water fountain, partially carved into the glass floor.

"Alllllllright then! After the Bracket B Final ended in a spectacular tie, we have the first of _two_ finals matches today! On one side of the arena, we have the graceful heiress to the Schnee Dust Company herself - she's ice cold and she's always got a plan, give it up for Weiss! SCHNEE!" called the marshal. Applause rang out around the stands, but Weiss remained focused only on the boy opposite her. "And facing off against the ice queen, please give it up for the mysterious rookie who stormed his way to the top, Tristen! FALL!"

The crowd noise fell to a murmuring. No more was he something to marvel at.

He was something to run from; something to fear.

Tristen was unfazed by the reaction, maintaining his discomforting smile, transfixed on the heiress. The clock hit 30 seconds.

"So lovely to see you again, Weiss." Tristen called out. His voice was ever calm - his tone did not suggest he was about to be fighting in a tournament final. "And now we get to face one another in the arena - how _splendid_."

Weiss remained silent. The clock ticked down to 20 seconds.

"If it's any consolation, Miss Schnee, I'll make this quick..."

Weiss remained silent. 15 seconds.

"No witty comeback for me, Weiss? I must express my disappointment. I would_ enjoy_ this more, if there were a little _fight_ in you..." he seemed to spit the words out.

Weiss refused to answer. 6 seconds.

Tristen seemed to become agitated by the lack of response. He readied his broadsword in his right hand.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

* * *

Weiss leapt off her podium, arcing through the air and sweeping Myrtenaster horizontally. An impressive burst of fire shot from the tip of her blade, rolling through the air towards Tristen. With a wave of his hand, the flames scattered, dispersing harmlessly around him. He dropped down into the arena, landing atop one of the large glass cubes. Weiss had landed onto the shining floor, bending her knees to absorb the fall and leaning behind cover in order to load a yellow Dust crystal into her rapier. It clicked into place neatly.

She rolled out of cover, got to her feet and unleashed the attack on Tristen. Astonishing blue forks of lightning exploded out of Myrtenaster's tip, each bolt accompanied by a deafening _crack_. Ruby covered her ears in the stands, watching the electricity shoot at Weiss's enemy.

Tristen held his hand out before him. The streaks of lightning seemed to absorb into his palm, resting there as a pulsating white glow. He chuckled, before flicking his wrist forward.

The electricity burst back towards its caster. The forks hit Weiss and she flew backwards, slumping against a glass cube.

"WEISS!" Ruby shouted out desperately. She tightened her knuckles until they were white, frustrated that there was nothing she could do to help from here.

The heiress rose to her feet groggily, struggling for breath. Wisps of smouldering smoke hovered above her body; burn marks were present on her arms where the lightning had struck her.

She discretely loaded black Dust into her rapier's chamber. Weiss swung the sword above her head and planted the blade into the ground; suddenly, the arena was plunged into eerie darkness, the viscous black smog obscuring vision. Tristen looked around curiously, sniggering to himself.

"Oh this is _interesting_, Weiss. Is the heiress trying to hide from me in the shadows? _Not_ for long, I'm afraid." Tristen swirled his hand in an oval shape, and the clouds of black fog began to clear around him rapidly. However, he spotted Weiss standing exactly where she had been before. Tristen saw Weiss's hand movements a moment too late, her eyes focusing on his feet.

A glyph appeared on the glass cube beneath him. Tristen panicked, trying to escape - but failed to think fast enough. The glyph launched him up into the air; he flailed and kicked as he was thrown upwards like a rag-doll. As he began to fall downwards, Tristen tried to manipulate the air below him into a 'cushion' - but the makeshift air barrier was too weak to break his plummet. Tristen crashed back down onto the glass cube, as the crowd cheered in glee. Tristen growled and got to his feet, furious at the humiliation.

"You're going to pay for that._ You are going, to pay, for, that._" he said, barely containing his rage. He stretched his hand out again. Weiss heard the cracking sound just an instant too late; she spun on her heel to look behind her, watching in horror as the enormous glass cube slammed into her with the force of a truck. Weiss flew through the air backwards, landing in the water fountain with a dramatic _sploosh_. Tristen kept his focus on the huge lump of glass, however. He drifted the cube over the water surface as the heiress was submerged, and held the cube there, hovering without motion on top of the water.

Ruby screamed out for her partner before turning to Yang in frantic desperation. "He's trying to drown her! _YANG, HE'S GOING TO DROWN WEISS!_" Yang, Blake and Team JNPR could only watch on in dread, Yang's sister in a terrified frenzy, as Weiss thrashed about under the cube, unable to get above the water surface to breath. The heiress desperately swam around to try get around the cube, whilst Tristen malevolently kept the glass cube above Weiss, denying her the ability to get out of the water.

To Ruby's relief, a line of glyphs appeared under the water - Weiss launched herself horizontally out of the water fountain, skidding across the glossy arena floor. Weiss sputtered and choked water out of her lungs, lying on her side. Her skirt and jacket clung to her, drenched and heavy. She dragged herself across the floor to lean against one of the large cubes, coughing out more water. Tristen laughed out, clapping as she staggered to her feet, legs trembling. Bruises lined her calves and thights, interrupted only by various bleeding lacerations which wept deep red.

"Do you see now, Weiss? This is why it's a lot easier, and a lot quicker to just _submit_ to me. How about I make you a deal? That's fair, right? I promise to only play with you for a _little_ while longer, and then I'll finish you off. I think we can both agree that I'm being generous, considering you dared to try attack me. Are you willing to accept, then? Will you _yield to me, little girl?_"

Weiss remained silent.

"I find a little struggle attractive in a girl, Weiss, but this is getting _tiresome_ now."

Weiss refused to answer.

Have it your way then...but mark my words: when I'm finished with you, you're going to _dearly wish_ you'd just given in to me."

Ruby seethed at his words; they made her feel sick, and she felt powerless to save Weiss. All she could was stand here, watching this monster _torture_ her partner. Ruby scrunched her face in fury. Yang looked at her sister with unease, noticing that Ruby was clutching Crescent Rose instinctively.

Weiss grabbed Myrtenaster from the ground, and switched to the white-grey Dust setting.

_I just need to buy some time._

She ignored the agony all over her body, and put the feeling of cold to the back of her mind. She stabbed the blade into the ground once more.

The winds converged around her, swirling with increasing ferocity until the protective tornado had formed around her. The great storm drew water from the ground and flung it high into the cloud layer. Tristen stretched out his hand, trying to grasp at the tornado to pull it apart...he found himself unable. The air particles were moving too rapidly around for him to be able to control their movement. He narrowed his eyes.

"If I can't tear the walls apart...then I'll just have to tear _you_ apart..." he grumbled. Tristen aimed his palm at a nearby glass cube, and squeezed his hand into a ball.

The glass cube shattered upon his command; uncountable numbers of glass fragments littered the ground, and Tristen forced them to obey his authority. The inanimate shards complied, rising off the ground and levitating. Tristen swept his arm at the tornado.

The glass debris shot towards the tornado, slipping through the currents of air and attacking the inside. A million million fragments of jagged glass shot into the centre of the storm. A dreadful scream rang out from the inside of the hurricane, and the audience gasped in terror at the barbaric attack. The tornado faded away, and Weiss came back into view.

The heiress was crouching on the ground. Patches of red lined her dress and jacket; along her legs and arms, hundreds of tiny cuts oozed crimson, and more cuts had appeared on her face. Her offset ponytail had been marked, its usual perfect white colour stained with patches of bright red. She struggled to stay crouched, swaying from side to side, barely holding herself from falling into shock induced from the blood loss.

"That's _it._ This is...this is _disgusting_. We have to put an end to this match _right now._" Yang said, staring in petrified disbelief at the arena. She glanced over to Blake. Blake nodded, and the two of them turned to exit the row of seats. Ruby stood from her seat, blocking their way, with her head bowed down.

"Ruby, what are you _doing?!_ Move out of the way _now!_" Blake shouted in a rare break in her tranquility. "Don't you care about your partner? She needs _medical attention_! Let us through!" Yang added. Ruby stayed motionless, preventing them from leaving. She shook her head from side to side, still looking down at the floor, her face out of view.

"Ruby! How _could_ you want to leave your teammate in the-" Yang stopped instantly as Ruby brought her head up._  
_

Ruby's silver eyes were puffed up and flushed red. Rivers of dampness had formed under her eyes, running down her cheeks as tears continued to well up and streak down her face. Her breaths were short and shallow as she snivelled and cried. She was trembling as she sobbed; Ruby was on the verge of a complete psychological breakdown.

Yang felt her own eyes brim up with wetness as she looked upon her distraught little sister. "_R-Ruby?_" In spite of her utter anguish, Ruby blinked through the tears to keep her eyes fixed on Yang's.

"I...I _h-hate..._e-every _s-second..._of t-this..." Ruby stuttered out in a whimper. Her voice was so terrified and fragile; it was barely audible. She fought through sniffs and endless tears to keep speaking. "T-trust me, Yang. I h-hate this. I..._w-wish_ I c-could stop this..."

Yang swallowed, holding back her own sobbing. "Then l-let us get down there, Ruby. We can get Weiss out, b-before she gets seriously hurt..." Ruby looked up at her sister again, another flood of tears sweeping down her face like tiny waterfalls.

"S-she made m-me _p-promise, _Yang..."

Yang stared at her sister, waiting patiently for her to continue.

"W-Weiss made me p-promise n-not to stop t-the fight...no m-matter _what h-happened. P-please Y__ang. D-dont make me b-break my promise to her. N-not to Weiss._" Ruby whispered, swallowing as droplets continued to race down her cheeks. Yang could not hold herself together anymore; the blonde burst into sobbing herself, taking her sister into a hug and gripping tightly as Ruby's tears soaked into her jacket. Blake dabbed her own tears onto a tissue, before clearing her throat.

"Alright, Ruby. I understand. We...we won't stop the match."

Ruby and Yang released, sniffing and wiping tears away. Ruby nodded at Blake in a silent thanks.

"It's just...t-this is _horrific_ to watch. I-I can't stand the sight of what's happening to Weiss out t-there..." Blake finished.

The three members of Team RWBY looked out to the arena, watching as Weiss gasped for breath, blood streaming down her pale skin.

"So, have you quite had _enough_ yet, Miss Schnee? Or must I _press further_?" sneered Tristen, pacing along the glass cube he stood atop; the same cube he had not moved from since the beginning of the match. Weiss picked up Myrtenaster from her side with a quivering hand, blood dripping onto its handle. She rose from the floor on legs which barely held her, threatening to give way at any moment as the stuttered like her hand. Tristen frowned, clenching his fist.

"Why...just...why won't you just _stay, down._" he growled through gritted teeth. He raised his arm and focused on the water left in the fountain; bringing his arm upwards, he commanded the water to hover in the air.

He threw the mass of liquid at the heiress. The levitating wave smashed into her, throwing her across the arena into a cube.

Weiss collapsed to her side, and slipped into unconsciousness.

The marshal looked on in horror; Weiss's aura was still miraculously green, but he had no choice. The girl had passed out from sheer torture.

"I...I guess t-that's it, folks..." the marshal stuttered out, far removed from his usual enthusiastic tone.

Ruby felt nauseous, like she was going to faint. She refused to believe this was happening. It had to be fake.

It had to be a dream, a nightmare.

This couldn't be how it ended.

She looked down at Weiss's body.

The heiress's scarlet blood mixed with the clear fountain water into a sickening, swirling concoction.


	12. It's My Blood that's Red Like Roses

That was it. It was over. And it had been a mortifying match.

Blake exhaled deeply, looking up into the evening sky. The last rays of sunlight were dipping away, the stadium slowly becoming darker. Glancing to her left, Blake spotted her heartbroken leader. Ruby was leaning into Yang's shoulder, and the blonde was embracing her little sister supportively, consoling her as the red huntress burrowed her head into Yang's jacket. Ruby simply refused to look out at the world, hoping at every second that she would awaken in her dorm room.

The faunus watched as medical personnel rushed out from the stands carrying a stretcher, headed for the arena. Tristen sheathed his broadsword and stood motionless on the glass cube with his hands in his pockets, staring down at his tortured opponent with a revolting grin. Blake felt fury prickling within her, threatening to burst out at any moment. The marshal looked glum, sighing as he was stepping away from the stage. Blake looked back to the immobile heiress; she was barely able to hold her gaze on Weiss, not wanting to believe this was real.

Blake narrowed her eyes with a gasp.

_Was that...?_

Blake nudged Yang and pointed out to the arena.

"Yang, look."

"I don't want to, Blake...let's just get down there an-"

"Yang, look down there _now!_ Weiss is _moving_!"

Yang and Ruby shot their heads upwards, staring out to the arena, hopeful. Yang squinted, but saw nothing. "Blake, she's not moving. I can't see any-" Yang halted as she watched, awe-struck.

Weiss's leg twitched, just a little. A few tense moments passed. Her hands twitched more energetically, clenching into fists. Her arms moved around her gently; she pushed herself off the floor into a crouching position, before grabbing Myrtenaster with a shaking hand, and clambering onto her feet.

The crowd erupted into ecstatic applause.

The marshal seemed to rub his eyes incredulously - not quite believing what was unfolding before him. After several, startled moments of unbelieving, the marshal took the microphone in his hand.

"I...I don't _believe_ it! This is - this is _incredible!_ Weiss is back on her feet and ready to dish out more damage! Her aura is still just barely green...she - she's still in this battle! What a fighter!" he shouted, the surprise apparent in his tone.

Ruby bounced up and down on her feet with a newfound enthusiasm.

"Come on Weiss, you got it! I BELIEVE IN YOU!" the girl screamed out. Yang, Blake and Team JNPR were reinvigorated with joy; their eyes were glued to the arena, excited and fearful at the same time.

* * *

Tristen turned on his heel, his mouth agape, to discover what the sudden cheering was for. He did not _believe_ what he was seeing.

Weiss Schnee was staggering to her feet, sword in hand, staring him down as she caught her breath. Those sapphire eyes glared at him with unwavering focus - not with anger, not with fear, but with determination. Tristen shook his head, reaching for his broadsword with a quivering hand. A single bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"I thought I told you...to stay _DOWN!_" he bellowed; he struggled to hide his anger and his fear. Tristen brought his palm to face upwards into the sky. "This time, I'll put you...down for good. This _isn't funny anymore, _Weiss...I'll give you a true taste of the elements! How do you like _this_?!"

He dropped his hand down rapidly. The air above him seemed to gather and launch at the heiress. A torrential gust of wind blasted at Weiss, strong enough to lift a car into the air.

Weiss skidded backwards 20 metres, falling down from the force of the winds slamming into her. Tristen smiled deliriously as she fell to the floor once more. "That should do it n-"

His speech was interrupted as Weiss struggled off the floor again. Clutching her sword, she re-established the icy glare onto him. Tristen's heart began to race with panic, adrenaline coursing through him.

"_No!_ This...isn't possible! How does she do it? _How do I STOP you?!_" Tristen cried out. Weiss remained silent. She just stared at him, her concentration fixed on him and him alone. Tristen began to feel something he had never felt in his life.

Powerlessness.

The marshal piped up to commentate.

"_Unbelievable! _It appears as though Weiss, through unbreakable determination, has _gained the upper hand!_"

Tristen growled hysterically and stretched his arm out furiously, his palm open. He scrunched his face and closed his palm as he focused, mustering every ounce of power he could. Before him, every glass cube in the arena except his own shattered in a deafening _crack_. Billions of razor sharp fragments covered the arena, creating a glistening, shining carpet on the floor. With a trembling wave of his hand, the pieces obeyed and shot towards Weiss.

Weiss stabbed her blade into the ground, and an impressive wall of sparkling ice formed around her. A few shards were too quick, ripping through her clothes and leaving more slice wounds. The majority collided with the shielding barrier of ice, bouncing off it harmlessly. The ice wall crumbled away, having served its purpose. Tristen clutched his head in his hands, his eyes wide and gripped by terror.

"What _ARE YOU?! _I've hit you with everything in my power! You should be _unconscious, or DYING!_" he screamed, near enough tearing out his dark hair in panic. "That's it, I have had,_ ENOUGH! I'll come down there, and finish you off MYSELF!"_

Tristen dropped down from the lone glass cube he had occupied, brandishing the broadsword threateningly in his right hand. He froze in terror as he looked across at the heiress. Through the trickling lines of blood on her face, he saw her smile - a smile which chilled Tristen to the bone.

"_Perfect._" she said.

A line of glyphs appeared on the ground between the two competitors.

Weiss raced across them towards him.

Their swords met with a distinct metallic _clang_, as the two began to duel. Rapier and broadsword swung and lunged at each other. But something impossible was happening.

Tristen was being pushed back rapidly.

Ruby cried out with joy, watching her partner dominate Tristen with flawlessly executed maneuvres. Ruby felt the tears of pride and elation stream down her cheeks as she was fixated on Weiss's attack. She recognised the impeccable manoeuvres; Weiss shifted from attack to attack with unrivalled finesse, executing the same moves Ruby had seen her practicing in the training grounds.

Tristen felt his breathing quicken and his heart rate sky-rocket as he was forced further and further back by the superb choreography of Weiss's attacks. From every angle and every direction, Weiss out-competed him; Myrtenaster swished past, and made a cut across his cheek. Tristen stopped and clutched at his cheek; he was bleeding. He _never_ bled in battle. In his momentary shock, he felt Weiss's boot smack into his stomach, sending him reeling backwards into the lone glass cube behind him, the one he had once stood so confidently upon at the start of this match.

Weiss focused, and a glyph materialised before him, pinning him to the cube. She pointed her sword at him, swishing the blade in a circle.

Lances of pale blue ice shot out of the tip; they connected with his wrists, trapping his arms and hands solidly to the cube.

Tristen could not move his hands. He shrieked in terror as he found himself incapable of breaking out of the cold blocks of ice which bound him to the last glass cube.

Weiss summoned a new glyph underneath herself, and launched herself high into the air, bringing Myrtenaster high above her head in a graceful, deft movement.

She didn't look angry. That was the _worst _thing. Watching her leap high above him, the moonlight faintly shining behind her, she did not appear hateful. She didn't look happy, or sad, or vengeful.

Weiss looked cold, and neutral.

Like Winter.

She dived diagonally down towards him at tremendous velocity, a white streak filling the air as she shot through.

Tristen screamed out as the rapier tore through his side cleanly. Weiss's momentum carried her through him and into the cube. The last glass cube in the arena gave way and exploded into fragments from the incredible force of her attack; Tristen fell backwards as the cube collapsed behind him.

He crashed into the floor, unmoving.

The marshal looked to the aura bars. Weiss's barely flickered in the green. Tristen's blinked in the red.

"_Itttt's OVEEERRRRR!_" he roared through the microphone.

The audience detonated into thundering celebrations, screams and cheers ringing out from every stand in the stadium. Weiss turned to her spectators, her back perfectly straight, and curtsied.

Yang threw her hands over Blake's ears as Ruby's high-pitched screaming deafened all within a 50 metre radius, the red huntress leaping up and down and stomping the ground whilst her arms were gesturing wildly and randomly. Yang chuckled as she and Blake exchanged a relieved expression, before running after Ruby, who had disappeared from their side.

Ruby scrambled down the steps and vaulted over the railings, sprinting across towards the arena with Yang, Blake and Team JNPR trying to catch up. Weiss grinned as she stepped out of the arena and walked towards the ecstatic young huntress, her steps slow and gracious. The heiress couldn't hide a slight smirk as she watched Ruby zipping across open ground towards her.

"Weeeiiss! _WEEIISSS!_" Ruby shouted as she ran into Weiss, hugging the heiress and practically squeezing her half to death with her embrace. The others had finally reached Ruby and the heiress, the sound of their combined praise for her was indiscernible. Weiss rested her chin on her partner's shoulder. Blotches of her vision were fading darker. She didn't have long.

"Weiss that was the _greatest battle EVER! _You - I can't believe that you - _you beat Tristen! _That was so totally _AWESOME_ when you came back with all the sword-fighting, and then you _totally _trapped him in ice and he was _SO SCREWED! _And then the way that you-"

"...T-thank you, Ruby. I remember all that. I _was_ there you know." Weiss said with an exhausted smirk. Yang, Blake and Team JNPR laughed in response. Ruby released from her mega enthusiastic hug, nodding and jumping up and down on the spot for a few more moments. "Ruby, this is...this is important, so I n-need you to listen, okay?" Ruby hushed and focused on the heiress intensely. Ruby soon became worried when she heard her partner's breathing: Weiss's breaths were short and laboured, like she was having to drag air in every time. Before she could ask, Weiss began speaking again.

"Ruby. Were you w-watching?" Weiss whispered. She was panting, still gasping for air. Ruby looked confused, her mouth agape.

"O-of _course_ I was watching you Weiss! I've been here the whole ti-"

"No, R-Ruby. Were y-you _watching_?" Weiss said with a little more emphasis. Ruby caught on after a few moments, nodding solemnly. Weiss exhaled deeply, taking her hand off Ruby's shoulder. "Good...I g-guess I've done m-my part then..." What happened next caught Ruby off guard, too quick for her to react.

Weiss collapsed sideways.

The snow haired girl felt her vision darken, the sight of the red huntress covered by shadows in her eyes. She hit the floor on her left shoulder. Myrtenaster fell from her grip, her loyal weapon clattering along the floor by Ruby's feet. The darkness was swallowing her, and she had nothing left to fight it with. She gave in to it, succumbing to the blood loss and the trauma.

It seemed to play out in slow motion to Ruby. She watched as Weiss fell sideways, her sapphire eyes closing shut as she dropped down and her legs buckled beneath her. For all Ruby's speed, she did not react fast enough to catch her partner as the heiress fainted and slammed into the floor, the sword rolling into Ruby's feet.

"_Weiss?!_" Ruby shouted, dropping to her knees and feeling her own breaths become short and desperate. She panicked, cradling the heiress's head in her trembling hands, as the others crowded around in concern.

"Yang?! Blake?! _Somebody GET HELP!_" Ruby turned and screamed at her friends as the water brimmed up in her eyelids again. Ruby was breathing faster and faster, calling Weiss's name out with increasing panic.

Weiss's blue eyes remained shut.

Medics pushed through to get to Weiss, trying to move Ruby out the way as they affixed an oxygen mask onto the heiress's face, lifting her onto the stretcher. Ruby screamed more, calling out Weiss's name and clutching at her hand as the water streamed down her cheeks. The medical personnel lifted the stretcher and began to carry the battered and bruised Weiss away, Ruby looking up distraught from her knees and gripping onto Myrtenaster as tight as she could.

"Take her to the ambulance too, she's hyper-ventilating." one medic said to the other. The second medic nodded, gently lifting Ruby as she sobbed and breathed faster and faster, still carrying the heiress's sword. Yang fought to follow her sister, shouting something Ruby couldn't make out in her distress. Medics blocked Yang's way as the blonde yelled out more, desperate to follow her sister and teammate. Jaune brought Pyhrra into an embrace and patted her back, as the latter began to cry. He watched on with an anxious swallow, observing the heiress as she was carried away. Blood was forming red stains across every inch of her skin, accompanied by deep purple bruises.

Ruby felt dizzy, her own consciousness begin to slip as she drew in rapid breaths, unable to calm herself as the image of the battered and bleeding Weiss collapsing played across her mind again and again. She remembered seconds earlier; calling out Weiss's name and seeing no response, Weiss's beautiful blue eyes remaining shut.

She felt herself being carried, looking straight up into the murky night sky.

Ruby's vision was consumed by shadows.


	13. Unbreakable

A crimson haired huntress strolled through yet another dull hospital hallway, the gentle clicking of her boots muffled by the occasional activity in the wards; nurses hurried across halls, dashing from room to room with clipboards. Pyhrra made ample room for the medical personnel so as not to interrupt what must be a stressful occupation.

She observed an information sign, scrutinised its contents and took a sharp left. This hallway was creepier. Dimly lit, and utterly silent. Pyhrra paused to take in the eerie atmosphere - before setting off down yet another corridor. After navigating a twisting enigma of the enormous hospital, she found what she'd been searching for: Ward 63, Room 6. Pyhrra greeted her blonde friend exiting the room with the warmest smile she could muster. Yang returned it with an unconvincingly weak smile.

"How are you, Yang?"

Yang shrugged. She had bags under her eyes and her hair was unkempt, whilst her movements appeared sluggish and reluctant. "I'm okay. Thanks for asking. Listen, Pyhrra...I can stay a few hours longer if you've got things to do-"

"Don't be silly, Yang! You've been here for...nearly 10 hours now, if the clock is correct." came Pyhrra's concerned reply. "And if your appearance is any indication, you need some rest yourself. No offence, by the way." Pyhrra quickly added. Yang nodded solemnly, an action which Pyhrra could tell was taking a lot of effort by itself. Yang looked like she hadn't slept in a week.

"Yang, look at me."

The blonde looked back at Pyhrra with tired eyes.

"You've done wonderfully, as a sister and as a teammate. Take a rest. I'll look after both of them...I promise." Pyhrra soothingly said, resting her hand on Yang's shoulder reassuringly. The blonde finally seemed to take the advice, albeit with little enthusiasm.

"...Thank you, Pyhrra."

They exchanged a brief, friendly hug, before Yang set off down the hallway to head back to Beacon. Pyhrra felt sorry for her - Yang would have to escape the myriad of confusing hallways just to get out of the hospital before she could even start heading home. Pyhrra turned back to Room 6's door, peering through its glass panel.

Weiss was motionless on the hospital bed. The oxygen mask still covered her mouth - and bandages were wrapped intermittently around her on her arms, legs, torso and head. Monitors and screens were meticulously tracking every trace of her vital readings, as an IV drip fed into her arm. On Weiss's right was her partner sat in a chair.

Ruby Rose sat leaned forward, her head resting in her arms on the bed, asleep.

Ruby had been cleared to leave the hospital 4 days ago, only a few hours after she'd been cautiously taken in to be calmed down. But the red huntress had refused to be separated from the heiress's side; not just once, but multiple times. Thus, Ruby had essentially been living in this room for 4 days now, ever since Weiss had collapsed, barely speaking to anyone. The rest of Team RWBY and Team JNPR, and even the recently fully-healed Sun Wukong, had all been taking turns to visit and look after Ruby and Weiss - with Yang vowing to bear the brunt of this work and take the longest visits. Ruby had been extremely difficult to converse with, even with her sister. Often, she would mumble some polite greeting and then fall silent. Other times, she wouldn't speak at all.

Hopefully, today would be different.

Pyhrra breathed a deep breath, and quietly opened the door.

She was greeted only with the faint, rhythmic beeping of the various machines and monitors surrounding the heiress, and the delicate noise of oxygen being delivered to her mask. Ruby had not awoken upon Pyhrra's entry, still rising gently up and down as she slept with her face buried into the duvet on Weiss's bed. Pyhrra carefully took a chair and sat next to Ruby, rubbing the young huntress's back.

"Ruby? Are you awake?" Pyhrra felt like slapping herself; _of course she's not awake._ With a timid groan, she felt Ruby just slightly lift her head up, rubbing her silver eyes and raising up into a hunched posture. She glanced over to Pyhrra. Ruby was a mess.

Ruby's eyes had even more bags than her sister, yet seemed just as red and puffed up as they had the last four days...it was tragically clear that she was still crying in her sleep. Her cheeks were unnaturally pale. Her usually well looked after hair was ruffled and lacked its usual glossy appearance. In addition, her eyelids kept twitching, hinting that Ruby desperately needed some sleep that _wasn't_ in a chair. Pyhrra took her hand in a gesture of understanding - only to almost recoil in shock. Her hand was freezing.

"...H-hi Pyhrra." came Ruby's glum greeting. There was no bubbly energy, no youthful smile. Truly, Ruby had said goodbye to her childhood.

"Hello Ruby. How are you?" Several seconds passed. No response. "We're...worried about you, Ruby."

Another period of silence. No response. Ruby continued to gaze at Weiss's face, watching over her, fighting her own fatigue.

The silence hung in the air, but Pyhrra could tell that Ruby didn't feel awkward about it. She didn't seem to care at all. She just watched.

After 12 uninterrupted minutes of soundlessness, Ruby's delicate voice finally broke through of her own accord.

"He didn't visit." she croaked, barely pushing the words out. Pyhrra snapped her head up at the surprising conversation initiative.

"What? Ruby?" More silence. "Ruby, who didn't visit?"

More voiceless seconds.

"Weiss's dad. Weiss's _father_, more like." Ruby replied. Her voice was consistently a faint whisper, Pyhrra straining to decipher the words. Ruby didn't break her protective gaze over her partner. "I bet...I bet he didn't even _watch_ Weiss's fights. Not any of them. He probably...doesn't even care about her."

Pyhrra stayed speechless. She wasn't proficient at dealing with grief, not even her own. Besides, this was the most Ruby had spoken since before Weiss had collapsed. Pyhrra wasn't about to interrupt her.

"W-Weiss...has spent seventeen years...with people _not caring_. Just...alone."

More silence passed.

"My mother died when I was young." Ruby added.

Pyhrra felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand, the tension gripping her.

"My mother...when she was alive...she always spent as much of her day with me as p-possible. _Always._" Ruby slowly turned to Pyhrra with those exhausted, drenched eyes. "But _Mr. Schnee? _I've been here f-for four days...and he h-hasn't visited _once._" Ruby broke eye contact and returned her loyal attention back to Weiss. She took Weiss's pale hand delicately in her own; Ruby entwined her fingers with the heiress's, staring down at their connection, waiting for even the slightest twitch; but nothing came.

Pyhrra cleared her throat at last. "'Ruby...you and I both know that Weiss...didn't fight that battle for her father."

Ruby did not move. Pyhrra inhaled another deep breath.

"Weiss...Weiss put everything...put her _life_ on the line for this." Ruby visibly winced; the very real possibility of her partner's life being in the balance seemed to shake her. "She poured every drop of energy she had into keeping her aura green. She took...a lot of damage, Ruby. Just to show you...that _Tristen wasn't unbreakable._"

Ruby turned to Pyhrra, seemingly willing to hear her out. Pyhrra took this as a tremendous improvement from the red huntress's recent depressive behaviour, and continued.

"Giving you the confidence to take him on, knowing he can be beaten...was clearly important enough to Weiss to risk death for. With this in mind...do you think Weiss would want you to be wasting away next to her, not preparing for your match?"

Ruby seemed to be ever so slightly flustered by the words - the concept of leaving the heiress's side was unthinkable. She did not form a retort. The somber expression on her face remained, however.

"...Instead of letting your anger about who _truly _cares about Weiss boil up inside you, you should try...try to put all your energy into preparing for your own match."

Pyhrra swallowed and stared right at Ruby, ready to drop the bombshell she so desperately didn't want to drop.

"Don't let Weiss's sacrifice go to waste, Ruby."

Ruby's lip quivered slightly, and she reached her arms out. Pyhrra caught her embrace gently, as a few of Ruby's silent tears collected on Pyhrra's shoulder.

"I hate s-seeing her like this, Pyhrra...all the bandages, a-and the machines and the screens an-"

"I know, Ruby, I know. We all do - it's...it's _horrible__..._" Pyhrra interrupted. She patted her young friend's back to comfort her, before releasing the hug and motioning to the door. "You need sleep first and foremost, Ruby. _Really badly_. You're suffering from sleep deprivation, as well as starvation, depression...I can watch over her, Ruby."

Ruby looked up at Pyhrra. She shook her head.

"Ruby...you can't get better whilst...whilst you're still in grief, still sat in that chair. You'll only get worse. Ruby, _trust me - _I'll look after her." Ruby stared for several tense seconds, unwavering.

"Promise me."

Pyhrra looked puzzled. "Ruby? O-of course I'll look after Wei-"

"_Promise me._"

Ruby was adamant. She would not leave without Pyhrra's unconditional commitment.

"Alright, Ruby. I...I give you my _word_. I won't leave Weiss's side until someone else comes to watch over her...and I'll make them swear to do the same. I promise you that." Pyhrra stared into Ruby's eyes as she made her oath.

More tense seconds passed as Ruby stared back, contemplating - the silence only broken by the sounds of electronic equipment.

Ruby got out of her chair.

She trudged slow steps across the room; each step away from Weiss was a battle in itself. She took one last look at Pyhrra, as if speaking to her telepathically: _You promised._

Ruby's gaze turned to Weiss, on which she paused, her weary eyes fixed on her partner for a few brief moments...before she reluctantly opened the door quietly walking away with her red cape drifting behind her.

Pyhrra took the chair closer to Weiss, sighing with relief.

_Well, that was one battle won_.

And so, Pyhrra began her dutiful watch, her fullest attention fixated on guarding the heiress from the world.

Just like she had promised.


	14. Our Motivations

The door to Room 6 creaked open, and whined once more as Ruby softly closed it. She drew in a deep breath; it was difficult being back here. She felt the tightness in her chest as her heart fluttered, and the toxic concoction of emotions swirled through her body and near enough rooted her to the spot.

Back in Room 6.

Weiss's hospital room.

The background symphony of beeping and whirring returned to Ruby's ears - a symphony she was well accquainted with. Before Pyhrra had visited, Ruby had spent 4 days continuously in this room, refusing flat out to leave Weiss's company. During that arduous time, Ruby had felt herself slip into borderline madness; the constant sound of medical machines coupled with watching over Weiss's comatose body had seriously tested the limits of Ruby's sanity. She was glad to have been convinced to spend some time catching up on sleep, back at Beacon. Though she had not stayed there for long. Just two days had passed since Pyhrra had made that promise to her - having rested, recuperated and trained, Ruby felt she was ready to make a visit again...and hopefully not become overwhelmed with her own grief.

Noticing her enter were two familiar faces, sat in chairs next to Weiss's bed: Jaune Arc and Professor Ozpin. Both gave comforting smiles to Ruby upon her arrival, but she saw through them. Jaune and the Professor were clearly uneasy about Ruby returning to this room, given what had transpired previously. Jaune got to his feet to greet her.

She and Jaune exchanged a brief hug, before the two close friends broke off. He cleared his throat cautiously.

"Hey, Rubes. It's...good to see you're back to full strength!" he sheepishly said, scratching the back of his head. Ruby gave him a dubious look.

"_Rubes_? Seriously?"

"Uhmm...it seemed like a good nickname a few seconds ago?" he replied. The two students laughed lightly. Ruby paused as Jaune seemed to be struggling to say something. "Listen, Ruby...if - if coming back here, to this room, is too distressing...I, uh, know it's been hardest for you, and I know what that must feel like...I understand what you've been through and how stressful it must be. If it's too much for you, I can keep looking after Wei-"

"I'm fine, Jaune."

Jaune noted the interruption, nodding, but unwilling to let his friend go on that easily. "I...I'm just saying, I know that you and Weiss had a unique...bond, and to have that severed must be-"

"_Jaune._ I said it's okay. I...can handle this."

With that, the golden haired boy gave a single nod. He walked past her, gazing at her with a final warm smile, before slipping out of the room quietly. Ruby turned back around. The only conscious beings in the room were her and Ozpin now. His comforting smile remained unconvincing. He held a mug of coffee loosely in his left hand, and stood from his chair with the aid of the cane in his right.

"I'm...sorry for what has happened to Weiss, Ruby. It has been a trying time for all of us at Beacon. I know how you must feel about your partner's extensive trauma." the tenured professor softly spoke.

Ruby remained silent as she looked up at her headmaster, but felt an irrational, emotional rage prickling at her in her veins. Such anger was uncharacteristic of the scythe wielder's usual cheery personality, but this rage was passionate and driven by how she truly felt.

She wished people would saying that. _'__I know how you must feel' _or _'I understand what you're going through'_.

_No. _

_You don't._

_You haven't got the faintest clue how I feel. None of you do._

_None of you have stayed awake for 36 hours without a single moment of rest, watching Weiss's eyes, hoping to see even a flicker._

_None of you have held her hand as she lies there motionless, covered in patches and bandages, wishing that she might just move a solitary finger._

_None of you have whispered one-sided conversations to Weiss for hours and hours on end in desperation as your own sanity is eroded by your grief._

_None of you have cried and screamed in your sleep like I have, watching the memories of her collapsing to the stadium floor in your head._

Ruby said none of this. She remained silent, staring into Professor Ozpin's eyes. As if sensing her anger, he coughed awkwardly.

"Well, I...had better get going. Beacon Academy cannot run itself, of course. And the creatures of Grimm never rest." Ozpin nodded politely and walked past towards the door.

He swivelled on his foot suddenly.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Ruby, Weiss spoke to me privately before her match with...with Tristen. She gave me something to pass on to you, should she-" Ozpin paused to choose his words carefully, "-should she be unable to give you it herself." Ruby perked up a little, her silver eyes wide and curious. The professor fumbled in his jacket pocket before producing some kind of jewellery. Ruby couldn't quite identify it in his hand until he outstretched his palm. "She was quite adamant on you keeping a hold of this, Ruby...and only you in particular, it seems. She refused to leave it to Blake, Yang or any of Team JNPR in fact. I believe...that therefore, it must be of great value to her."

Ruby gazed upon the shiny object in his hand.

It was Weiss's necklace.

An elaborate pewter chain of tiny links, and looped on to it was a small, delicate apple made of a darker metal. Ruby rarely saw Weiss without this on...she had wondered where it had got to.

With all the grace and caution it deserved, Ruby took the necklace from her headmaster's hand. She was just as protective with the heiress's symbolic jewellery as she had been with Myrtenaster; Ruby held the necklace gently and ran her fingers along the chain and over the apple pendant, before clutching it in her palm like it might be swept from her grasp.

Ozpin smiled in response to Ruby's entrancement, but this time the expression was genuine.

"I'm sure it is in safe hands with you, Ruby Rose. I shall take my leave."

And within a silent second, the headmaster had disappeared through the door, leaving Ruby alone with her thoughts...and her unconscious best friend.

Ruby stepped over to Weiss's bed and sat on the chair as she fiddled with the necklace's clasp before it clipped into place. The precious necklace was around Ruby's neck now, the black apple lying on her chest. She twiddled her fingers, trying to think of what to say.

"...Hi Weiss."

_That was a stupid greeting!_

_What am I even panicking about? She can't hear me._

_Or maybe she can? Either way, she can't talk back to me..._

Ruby sighed. Even when Weiss was asleep, Ruby sucked at conversations. How could she call herself Weiss's partner if she was this useless at talking to her?

She felt the same emotions creeping up in her, the same ones which had brought her to the brink of a breakdown just days ago, waiting by Weiss's bed. Guilt. Anguish. Fury. Love. Just like the first time, they were mixing together rapidly and causing Ruby to feel anchored here, unwilling to move a muscle until Weiss awoke, whenever that may be - a week, a month, a year...

Then came the fear. It stalked inside her mind, conjuring scenarios and images she didn't want to think of. Ruby couldn't fight the fear...not when it was fear about Weiss.

_What if she never wakes up? What if the nurses turn off the life support?_

_No. I'll kill them._

_I'll kill whoever tries to turn the machines off. Any of them. All of them._

Ruby tried to approach her own fractured psyche with logic. There it was again...fear and fury had joined forces to craft horrific concepts in her head. She breathed deeply, counting to ten in her head - an effort to control the panic inside of her.

Weiss would wake up. Nobody was going to turn off the machines.

Ruby wouldn't have to kill anybody.

Or would she?

Fear swept in again, exploiting the moment of frightened weakness in Ruby's own mind.

_They won't keep Weiss on life support forever. You know that._

_They'll come to switch the machines off, and Weiss will die._

_Dead. Weiss will be dead, Ruby._

_Lost forever, dying alone on a hospital bed at 17 years old._

Ruby felt the clouds of fear drift through her senses, the hazy fog of terror conjuring images of the possible futures. They succeeded, triggering the fighting response inside Ruby's mind.

She imagined herself guarding Weiss's bed, as hordes of faceless nurses teamed through the door. Ruby cut through the masses with Crescent Rose, creating mindless carnage as the nurses sprinted through trying to get to Weiss. Ruby became delirious, slicing and carving through ever more of the nurse silhouettes which seemed to clamber over each other in a frenzy like zombies. All were reaching for some kind of switch by Weiss's bed. Ruby fought harder and harder in her mind but couldn't keep up; the shadowy figures were piling through the door in increasing numbers. Finally, she was at her limit - watched the scene play out in her head. The army of shadow nurses had smashed through, Ruby unable to kill them quick enough. They flicked the switch. Ruby watched as the machines screeched, Weiss gasping for breath and choking. Ruby screamed, but no sound came out as the images flashed in her head - Weiss stopped moving, and the sound of a flatline echoed as the sound of unnerving laughter came from the doorway, a figure with its hands in its pockets..._Tristen._

Ruby awoke from the nightmare realm inside her troubled mind with a jolt. Sweat ran down her hand as her heart rate was at a disturbing high. In her distress, Ruby yanked her neck around to see Weiss. The heiress was still there, breathing gently with her eyes closed. Ruby looked down; the apple necklace was safe and sound around her neck. The machines keeping Weiss stable were beeping just as they had been earlier.

Ruby leaned back in her chair as water began to collect in her eyelids. She was exhausted and distraught. Coming back to Weiss's side seemed to wreak havoc with her sanity. Ruby was so angry at herself, so terrified for her partner, sitting in this chair...powerless to do anything for the heiress.

A strange thought came to Ruby; one that seemed to freeze the fear inside her like a winter wind, and made her feel...hopeful?

She decided to act upon it. It enticed her.

Ruby stood up from her chair...and climbed onto Weiss's bed.

Careful not to disrupt the IV drip on her arm, Ruby lied down, resting her next to her partner. She adjusted her body so that her legs ran alongside Weiss's, and nuzzled her head into Weiss's cheek. The distinctive smell of her partner had weakened - Ruby hadn't smelt it in over a week, since before the match against Tristen. She'd forgotten just how _great_ Weiss's perfume was. Could a scent be beautiful? This one was.

Ruby grasped onto Weiss's hand, her fingers wrapping around her partner's.

An inexplicable wave of elation washed through Ruby. She felt the fear, the terror and the rage all cower and flee from an omnipotent burst of Ruby's favourite memories. She smiled as she played them back to herself.

The time Ruby and Weiss took down a Nevermore on their first day. _Oh boy, that was SO cool!_

The time Weiss had brought coffee to Ruby in the middle of the night, apologising and promising to be the best teammate she could ever be. Ruby smiled unconsciously.

The time that Weiss had kissed her on the forehead.

The time that she and Weiss had fought their battle in front of thousands of spectators, the crowd going wild as the two huntresses gave their all, giggling and laughing as they did so.

The time they had almost kissed in the locker room.

Ruby snapped out of the memories, a little embarrassed - she realised she'd been wearing a great big goofy grin on her face. All the strife and upset, the trauma inside Ruby, had been defeated by overpowering recollections of the past, submitting to the strength of their bond. Almost immediately, words formed in Ruby's mind with ease. She began her one-sided conversation gleefully.

"So...thanks for the necklace Weiss! It's _super cool._ I promise I'll look after it, I swear. Just like I've been doing for your sword! Oh man, Weiss, I've been cleaning Myrtenaster every single day! It's so shiny, you're not gonna _believe_ it when you wake up. I got something for you to keep for me too! Here, hold onto..._this_ for me, would ya?"

Ruby pulled the silver rose piece from the belt of her dress, and placed it on the other side of Weiss's pillow.

"You gotta look after it though. Someone very important gave it to me...a long time ago. And that's why I only trust _you_ to keep an eye on it!"

Ruby finished her rambling and shut her eyes with a smile. Within seconds she felt herself falling, down into dreams.

It was the quickest she'd fallen asleep in a week.

* * *

"Listen, I'm sorry, but the kid won't listen. I already tried yesterday, and the day before that, and the day befo-"

"_I don't care.__"_

The interruption made Roman Torchwick close his mouth shut in an instant. There wasn't a chance in hell he was going to try talking over her...regardless of how futile her orders were.

Cinder Fall paced gracefully towards him, until they stood barely centimetres apart. Her fire-filled eyes stared right through him. Roman felt his hands begin to tremble. It never seemed to get easier, working with her.

"Get him on his feet and ready to fight again. I don't care how. Whatever you need to do to get his head straight again...you will do it. Or I will be..._very disappointed_, Roman. And we both know how dangerous disappointment can be, don't we?"

Cinder's words chilled Roman to the bone. He swallowed nervously, nodded, and left the dimly lit room. He barely contained the urge to sprint away. He paced down the hallway, Melodic Cudgel in hand as he strutted past Emerald, another associate of Cinder's. Another shady figure.

Roman stopped outside one of the warehouse's many heavy iron doors. With a sigh, he swung it open.

The room was almost pitch black. Shattered fragments of...something were scattered across the grey tiled floor. Hidden in the shadows at the far corner of the room was Tristen, slumped against the walls. Roman sighed again in frustration.

"Get up, kid."

No response.

"I said, _get up kid._"

The kid just sat there, unmoving, staring down at the floor. Roman had had enough of this - nearly a week, and this Tristen kid was still having a tantrum?

"Get over it Tristen. You _lost. _Big deal."

Tristen seemed to respond. He raised his head, his mouth agape, still huddled in the corner.

"I...I lost? What?" came the reply.

Roman growled with irritation. This kid had lost it.

"Stop acting like a child. You lost your match against that Weiss girl. Stop crying about it already!"

"That - that - that isn't t-true, Roman. I can't lose, remember? I've never been beaten, n-not _ever_-"

"You _can_ and you _DID_ lose, kid! You were beaten, fair and square! Get off the floor and quit moping around, or I'm gonna be in a lot of trouble you little twerp!" Roman's voice had grown into a shout. Tristen matched him.

"_LIES! You're LYING, ROMAN! I don't know who...who Weiss is! I've never spoke to her, or met her, or heard of her! And I did NOT! LOSE!_" Tristen slammed his fist into the floor; pieces of shrapnel seemed to ricochet around the room in response to his semblance. Roman gritted his teeth.

"You think you're going to get revenge sitting in here, Tristen?! Do you expect every victory to just be handed to you?! Wake up you idiot. Every second you spend here...is a waste. Do you _really_ want your revenge, Tristen? Wanna get back at Weiss and reclaim your honour?"

Tristen seemed to snap out of his delusions and madness just long enough to peek his head out of his hands. He nodded in the slowest, most disturbing way imaginable. Roman exhaled heavily.

_Finally. This kid might actually get back in the game._

"If you wanna get your own back against Weiss...you gotta hit her in the heart. If you go out there, back into the tournament, and crush that red _nuisance_...Ruby Rose...then you have a chance of reclaiming all your lost pride, kid. And no-one could question you then. But _only if you get off the ground, and stop CRYING about one damn loss! You hear me?!_"

Roman waited for the response. He'd spun his words carefully to appeal to this Tristen kid's boy genius superiority complex...and hopefully, they'd pay off, and he wouldn't have Cinder to worry about.

Technically, Roman hadn't fed Tristen lies. Just the things Tristen wanted to hear.

An unnerving laugh echoed in the room. Roman looked up.

Tristen was climbing to his feet, and clutching his broadsword as he laughed. Roman took a cautionary step backwards. Sure, he'd gotten through to Tristen, managed to convince him to get his head back in the game...but only one thought played through Roman Torchwick's mind as he watched Tristen step across the floor, a sickening smile upon his gaunt face.

_This kid is nuts._


	15. Game Changer

"Miss Xiao Long._ Please_. Take your seat."

Yang glared back at Professor Goodwitch, exasperated. She hadn't even realised that in her growing temper, she'd been clenching her fists at her sides with Ember Cecilia ready to fire. Reluctantly, the brawler dragged her chair backwards and slumped into the plastic seat, folding her arms. With the tension defused if only momentarily, Glynda continued.

"Thank you Yang. Now, as Professor Ozpin previously stated-"

"_I heard him_, Professor Goodwitch. And I'm _still_ not happy with this going ahead!" Yang shouted back. She instinctively slammed her fist into the table. "So what? You put a few trained Hunters and Huntresses outside the arena, and that's supposed to make me feel better?! You saw what Tristen did to Weiss, that freak is a psychopath! And if you could have had Hunters ready to stop Tristen if he went too far, then _where the hell were they when Weiss was nearly KILLED?! _Why didn't anybody stop Tristen back then? I'm _not_ going to let my baby sister get hurt or _worse_ just because _you _think the match will be safe with some of your teaching friends stood around!"

Yang panted upon finishing her furious rant and leant back, her lethal stare flicking between the Beacon staff members sat opposite her. To Yang's left was Blake; although the faunus girl had been silent throughout the meeting, her calm and collected golden eyes seemed to say it all: she shared Yang's sentiments exactly. On the other side of the brawler was Ruby herself; the younger sister glanced rapidly at both her teammates and her teachers, ironically trying to stay out of the argument which was centred around her.

Glynda sighed as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose; she turned to Ozpin desperately, unable to sufficiently match Yang's fiery rage. Professor Port and his colleague Professor Oobleck both followed Glynda's gaze, looking to Ozpin to handle the situation. The headmaster narrowed his eyes and took the mantle of responsibility.

"Miss Xiao Long, I want you to understand that these 'teaching friends' are not just dried up old Beacon lecturers who will be supervising the match between Tristen and your sister. The team will consist of Professor Port, Professor Oobleck and two of my closest and most trusted friends, both of whom are highly experienced Hunters. Four leading Hunters is more than enough to restrain Tristen, should he take the match too far. But ultimately, the decision of whether to go ahead with the match, is up to you...Ruby Rose." Professor Ozpin turned his attention to the young huntress whose eyes still flickered rapidly between the individuals sat at the meeting. She seemed to pause for many moments, contemplating the crisis as the attendants of this impromptu meeting all looked upon her.

_Should I compete?_

Ruby threw the question around and around in her head. She clenched her teeth as she weighed up the prospects of facing Tristen. The kid who could control pretty much anything..._yikes_. Could she actually _beat_ him? It wasn't just a long shot - it was a one a million chance. Tristen could manipulate pretty much any and all matter to his will, creating shields, daggers and just plain nightmares all from the very environment he stood in. It had taken everything Weiss had in her power just to snatch a pyrrhic victory from him; she'd defeated the un-defeatable but it had near enough _killed her_. Ruby shuddered at the disturbing thought. The fact of the matter was simple - Ruby was outmatched in the offensive, defensive, evasive and just about every other category one could think of. And she wasn't as proficient a strategist as the heiress; she certainly wouldn't have a devious plan to work with like Weiss.

_Weiss._

The name echoed around Ruby's mind and triggered waves of emotions to shoot through her as it did. Weiss had put everything on the line to win her match; her pride had driven her to contibute nothing less than her absolute best. In an instant, it was clear to Ruby, as she looked down at the apple-shaped pendant hanging around her neck.

_If I don't put myself out there and face Tristen, I'll never be able to call myself Team RWBY's true leader - never be able to look Weiss in the eye again. She was determined to seize victory until the very end, even when Tristen unleashed hell on her...I should be just as determined. _

_If I can fight half as well as you did, Weiss, I know I stand a chance against that monster._

Ruby looked up, still caressing the pendant in her hand. With a steely grit in her eye, Ruby opened her mouth to deliver her answer.

"No."

"Uh...ah." Ozpin replied, somewhat surprised. Yang clutched at her sister's hand with relief.

"Oh thank _god! _You made the right choice sis, I mean - I mean there's just no need to face Tristen. He's too dangerous!"

"Very well, Miss Rose. I shall contact the tournament organisers and instruct them to cancel the upcoming ma-"

"You didn't understand." Ruby Rose interrupted her headmaster in a rare divergence from her usual shy personality. "I said 'no'. That means, 'no, I won't surrender to Tristen'. It means 'no, I'll face him no matter what he does'. And it means, 'no, I'll beat him no matter how long it takes'!"

Ruby stood from her chair as she spoke, defiant. Blake cleared her throat to object.

"Ruby, there is _nothing_ shameful about staying out of Tristen's way. He's too dangerous for any of us - not just you. Don't you understa-"

"No Blake, _you _don't understand!" Ruby shouted in response and glared at her teammate. Blake's eyes widened in shock - the young red huntress had never acted so fierce and passionate, not once in the five weeks they'd known each other. To see Ruby defy her teammate and her headmaster was a revolution in its own right.

"None of you understand how I feel about this." Ruby's voice cracked as she continued on, the sentiments threatening to burst through. "Weiss was warned...just like you guys are warning me right now. She knew the consequences of facing someone like Tristen, and she still went in there and fought. Do you know why?"

The faces of teammates and staff alike stared back at Ruby, dazed and blank.

"It's because my partner is _brave_. In spite of what she knew would happen, she took on the boy who had never been beaten...and she _won_. Weiss once told me she...that she would be my best teammate. And she proved that to me. So _what kind of teammate would I be, if I gave up where she had fought on?!_" Ruby said indignantly. She cast a hot-headed glare at the friends and teachers before her, challenging any of them to argue with her. Amusingly, none of the highly experienced warriors sat at the table dared to question the decision of the 15 year old girl.

Instead, Ozpin replied with a curt grin.

"Very well then, Miss Rose. I...will not interfere with the schedule. But I _will_ be placing four Hunters around the arena just in case Tristen fails to adhere to acceptable duelling etiquette again. This is not up for debate. Understand?"

Ruby nodded once, and took her seat once more. Yang was on her left, the look of worry and dread marked on her face.

"In that case, you are all dismissed and this meeting is adjourned. You seem to have considered the inherent danger, but have the courage to meet it head on. I...wonder where that courage comes from, Ruby."

Ruby didn't have to reply in order for the answer to be clear to him. She was cradling the apple pendant in her hand again as she, Blake and Yang left their seats and strolled out of the meeting room.

_Clearly, an interesting new paradigm in the game_, Ozpin mused to himself.

* * *

The day had arrived.

This was it.

Ruby jolted awake, straining her blurry eyes to focus on the alarm clock down below.

5:42 AM.

She could go back to sleep...and yet, she chose to ignore her instincts, as she slipped down from her top bunk gently. Her feet hit the floor delicately and without a trace of noise. Blake and Yang remained fast asleep; the faunus girl was tucked neatly into her covers whilst Yang was sprawled out on top of her duvet, undoubtedly trying to cool down. The blonde's abnormally high body temperature did come with its disadvantages sometimes - even _she_ could experience toomuch warmth.

The fourth bed in the room was empty. Weiss's bed.

The covers were neatly folded and tucked in - and had been that way ever since Weiss had tidied them, the very same day she had fought against Tristen.

Ruby snapped out of it, and quickly got dressed in the half-light of the early dawn. The determined beams of sunlight were just barely making it into the dormitory, and cast looming shadows across the walls. The whole room was encapsulated with an unusual yet entrancing sepia tone.

_Weiss would have liked early mornings like this. She loves artistic-y things in real life. Mood, genre, shading and that kinda stuff..._

Ruby pinched herself with a scowl.

_Stop it._

If she was going to win today - to stand any _chance _of winning today - she needed to remove every stray thought from her head; that included any thoughts about her partner. No matter how worried she might be, how scared for her she was, thinking about Weiss wasn't going to help her when Tristen attacks. Ruby would have to think and fight alone. That's how Weiss had done it...and it had worked after all.

Ruby finished dressing herself, finally donning the red cape which held so many memories in its soft crimson fabric. She fastened it securely around her shoulders, and turned to the desk by the window. Upon it was the heiress's necklace. Ruby approached and retrieved it with care, taking the intricate chain and pendant in her hands to examine it.

Maybe it would bring her some luck.

The huntress linked it around her neck. The apple pendant hung at her chest once again; more akin to a badge than a burden.

The moonlight had long since relented to the power of the sun, and the combined light and warmth inside the dorm was steadily rising. It was nearing 6AM. Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose from underneath her mattress and sneaked out of the room.

_Time to start._

* * *

"Ruby? Ruby?! _RUBY?!_"

Blake awoke to shrill, frantic calling. Yang's panicked yells were unmistakable. The faunus huntress groaned and pushed herself up from the bed, shaking her head. Blake had always maintained that sleep was an asset beyond value - so when that sleep was disturbed, denied or interrupted, her usual polite and reserved attitude could quickly turn foul. And Yang had just awoken her, hours earlier than Blake intended to get up.

"Yang, what are y-"

"Ruby! _RUBY, WHERE ARE YOU?! RUB-"_

"_YANG._" Blake interjected. Her tone was a shocking departure from her usual attitude, interrupting Yang's strife like a dagger through cotton. The blonde immediately stopped shouting upon hearing this threatening, sharp voice.

Blake inhaled through gritted teeth, counting to ten in her head.

_It's okay. She didn't mean to wake you. There must be a legitimate problem...just stay calm, Blake._

_Must. Resist. Temptation. To. Throttle. Yang._

"Yang. Would you please explain to me what it is you're shouting about?" Blake said with a faint smile - although the smile was about as friendly and genuine as a Nevermore. The blonde ruffled her messy golden locks, grimacing apologetically. Yang sat at the end of Blake's bed.

"I, uh...I can't find Ruby. She's not in her bed, she's not in the bathroom, I checked the cafeteria...hell, I even checked over at Team JNPR's room...not that they were particularly pleased to see me this early. It's 7:35 in the morning...Blake, she's _never_ up this early. Not even on her birthday. I'm a little on edge, you see, what with today..." Yang trailed off staring at the floor. Blake rose from her bed and walked over to the window, clearing her throat.

"Remember that time a few weeks back, when Ruby couldn't find Weiss, and she screamed your name into your ear whilst you were still dozing?" Blake said dryly.

"How could I forget..."

"Well, perhaps you should have remembered your own advice from that day and _looked out of the window_."

Blake was staring out through the glass panes, her arms crossed and her eyes barely staying open. Yang darted over to gaze over Blake's shoulder.

"Ohhhh..._that's_ where my lil' sis is..."

Blake rolled her eyes, sighed, and slumped back into her covers as her blonde partner continued to gawk out of the window.

Down below in the training courtyard, Ruby was practicing hard against an array of training dummies.

* * *

Ruby swung her scythe viciously in a horizontal plane. Just one manoeuvre in a blistering chain of attacks, with each move knocking over another training dummy. Compensating for the momentum of the scythe's heavy blade, she turned upon her axis and brought the weapon high above her and slammed it down into the earth.

_Rats. Missed again._

Ruby had flawlessly combined the moves together, eliminating every target placed around her...but had missed the last dummy by a few inches. She'd been training for well over an hour and had yet to successfully take down all the targets around her in one clean sweep, without missing once. It was just too hard to think about hitting them all at the same time, trying to remember how and when to attack each dummy...

Ruby growled and dropped Crescent Rose to the ground. She dropped unceremoniously onto a nearby bench with her head in her hands, scowling at the dirt beneath her. How was she going to beat Tristen of all people, if she couldn't even take out some dummies which didn't even attack or move?

"Aghhh _shoot! _I'm _never_ going to be able to beat Tristen!"

"Not with _that_ attitude, you won't."

Ruby gasped and bolted her head up upon recognising the voice.

"WEISS!" she shouted out. Weiss shook her head with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm afraid not. 'Weiss' is still in the hospital in a coma. It appears, in 'her' absence, you've imagined _me_ up. You actually created an imaginary friend based off of your real friend...how _flattering_." said the Weiss before her.

Ruby looked puzzled; the figure before her sounded like Weiss, and looked like Weiss...was the heiress playing a prank on her?

Ruby stretched her hand out curiously towards 'Weiss'. Her timid hand went straight through the figure, as if it were a hologram or a ghost. She recoiled her hand instantly in shock.

"GAH! That's really really really really _reaaaally_ weird!" Ruby squeaked as she nursed her own hand. Imaginary Weiss stared back at Ruby haughtily.

"Yes, that _is_ weird. Stop that you _dunce_. I'm just a projection of _your_ conscience...apparently taking the image and persona of someone you know - in this case, you dear friend Weiss Schnee." the imaginary figure replied. "Don't you have more pressing issues, you know...like the fact that you can't beat a few training dummies without slipping up?"

Imaginary Weiss had a smug grin on her face as she filed her nails casually. Ruby scowled and stood up from the bench, stomping her foot into the ground.

"Well what do _you_ suggest, princess?!"

Imaginary Weiss held up her hands defensively. "Excuse you. Don't start calling me names, Red. You are essentially talking to _yourself_, remember? Now if you'd quit being such a child for just one moment, you'd realise that the answer to your little problem is very simple."

The frustrated pout had not left Ruby's face. "Oh yeah? And what might the answer be...me?" she questioned, unsure of how to address her own consciousness.

The imaginary heiress put her hands on her hips and sighed, strutting over to Ruby to lecture her.

"First of all, you're thinking too much about the move you're _about_ to do, rather than the one you're actually _doing. _Secondly, you're trying to look at multiple targets at once rather than actually focusing on your objective. And perhaps most _crucially_, you're barely using Crescent Rose to its fullest abilities. Is _any _of this going in, you dolt?"

_Sheesh_, Ruby thought. _Imaginary Weiss is just as crabby as real Weiss...and just as daunting._

"Uh, _Ruby? _You do realise I know what you're thinking, right? I'm just another part of your childish mind...and I am _not _crabby!"

Imaginary Weiss could hear Ruby's thoughts.

_This imaginary version of my partner is even scarier..._

The figure before her rolled her eyes once more, before motioning to Ruby's weapon which lay upon the dirt.

"Ugh, whatever. Just pick up your scythe, Red, because you're _not_ going to win any battles if you sit around sulking."

Ruby complied and wielded the hefty weapon.

"Alright Ruby, _focus_. Don't dilly dally around trying to think about what you're hitting in five seconds, or three seconds, think about what you're hitting _in the moment_."

Heeding the advice, Ruby prepared herself and counted down in her head...and began her attacks.

She dashed forwards at the dummy in front of her; a swift slash brought it crashing down. Using the momentum, Ruby curled around on her ankle and just managed to decapitate the dummy which stood a few feet to her south-west. She swung her head around and zipped over to a target several metres away, slicing through its midsection.

In the midst of her attacks, she heard the heiress's voice again.

"Ugh...Ruby, you have a sniper rifle inside that contraption of yours, remember?! Try _using _it!"

Ruby cursed herself for not utilising such a versatile feature of her weapon. She hooked the scythe around one dummy and fired one shot off towards another; the second dummy flew backwards from the impact of the sniper round, whilst the recoil of the rifle caused the scythe to rip through the first target. Ruby leapt up with the recoil, diving down and obliterating another training dummy.

There was one target left, but she knew that turning to look at it was a waste of precious milliseconds and effort. Ruby trusted her instincts.

She dashed backwards in a flurry of rose petals and swung the mighty scythe in a devastating arc...splitting the final dummy cleanly into two halves. The scythe had also cut through the imaginary Weiss's figure. Ruby gasped in surprise, like a deer in headlights.

Fortunately, the figment of Ruby's sub-conscience was unharmed and unfazed as the blade passed through her 'body'. Instead, the imaginary heiress looked a little annoyed, tapping her foot on the ground.

"Well it's a good thing I'm not _real_, isn't it you dunce?!"

Ruby looked sheepishly back at the pretend Weiss, lowering her scythe.

"Whatever...you did a good job, anyway, I suppose. Better than the sub-par performance you were displaying earlier. I guess my job is done here."

Ruby stepped closer to the imaginary figure.

"Wait, Weiss! Don't go yet...I have some questions! When are you gonna wake up? Are you gonna wake up?! What's your _favourite_ flavour of cookie? Oh! And what-"

"You are _so_ dimwitted sometimes, aren't you?" the imaginary figure interrupted. The figure seemed to be fading into a generic silhouette, looking less and less like Weiss every second...although the voice remained constant. "I'm _not Weiss._ I'm just what's inside in your head. I don't know if she'll wake up...because _you_ don't know."

Ruby looked solemnly as the image of Weiss disappeared from in front of her, the voice becoming ever more faint.

"By the way...that necklace suits you. Look after it...for her."

The presence disappeared.

Ruby was alone once more, accompanied only by the broken remains of the training ground. She heard running footsteps approaching her from behind, but still stared at where her imaginary partner had been just seconds earlier.

Strong, eager arms wrapped around her from behind, and the typical perfumed scent of her big sister filled her nostrils.

"_Ruby!_ Agh, _finally_! We had no idea where you were this morning, not until Blake was up! What made you so eager to train this early? You _hate_ early mornings!" Yang exclaimed. "...Ruby?"

The red huntress remained silently transfixed on where the presence had been, still deep in thought. Jaune stepped out from behind Yang, standing beside her.

"Hey, uh, Ruby? Are you...okay? Looked like you were talking to thin air just then...?"

Ruby swivelled on her foot, swinging Crescent Rose majestically above her and planting its blade firmly into the earth with a startling _thud_. Jaune yelped and seemed to retreat a couple steps. Yang noticed a familiar determined grin on her little sister's face...one she had not seen in weeks. Ruby looked confidently between the two of them.

"I'm ready."


	16. The Reign of Monsters

The silk curtains of Team JNPR's dormitory swayed gently in compliance with the late autumn breeze. Cooling wisps of wind swept over Pyrrha Nikos's cheeks, and danced through her crimson hair. She sighed, her eyes weary, as she tried to lose some of the worried heat she had built up this morning. She heard the door open and close - a faint creaking of floorboards behind her triggered Pyrrha to swivel her head around.

Jaune.

"Hey. Thought I was the only one awake this early." the boy said. He stepped silently towards the agape window where Pyrrha stood, careful not to rouse the other two members of his team yet. Pyrrha nodded.

"I'm worried about Ruby." she replied. Jaune scoffed.

"Aren't we all..."

"I'm not just talking about the fact that she's facing Tristen in about 10 hours from now. I'm concerned about her...mental state, especially going into a battle of this intensity and importance." Pyrrha paused to return her gaze to the morning sky, the cracked moon still visible through the sparse cloud cover. "Jaune, Ruby has been through a _lot_ of emotional turbulence recently. And...and I can't help thinking...I mean, I saw you approach her outside just a few minutes ago. What she was doing...we both saw her in the training grounds-"

"Pyrrha, come on...maybe - I mean maybe that was just _Ruby being Ruby-_"

"Jaune, sane people don't have full conversations with _thin air-_"

"Are you saying Ruby isn't sane?!" Jaune exclaimed, a little too loudly. Both he and Pyrrha froze mid-argument as Nora seemed to stir in her sleep.

"Sure, Ren...I'll have..._all_ the pancakes please...of course I can eat them alllllll...nnghhhh..." Nora said groggily, before she began snoring. Ren seemed to groan in his sleep too, perhaps subconsciously acknowledging his partner. Jaune and Pyrrha relaxed as their teammates remained asleep. Pyrrha dropped her voice to a whisper, just in case.

"Okay, fine. Maybe some sane people _do _talk to thin air...the point is that I just...Ruby isn't in a good enough psychological state to face Tristen. She's...she's fractured, Jaune..." she trailed off. Jaune sighed and anxiously grasped his partner's hand, their fingers wrapping around each other.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe Ruby isn't 'all there'...I don't know. Neither of us do really. Ever since Weiss..." Jaune stopped, trying to find the right words, "...Ever since Weiss was _incapacitated_, Ruby has been, well, _off_. And that scares me too Pyrrha. But...if Ruby thinks she's ready for this, we can't really stop her."

Pyhrra gracefully raised her head to lock her brilliant green eyes with Jaune's.

"Besides, perhaps what Tristen did to Weiss will make Ruby...more dangerous..."

"More _dangerous?_' Pyrrha questioned.

Jaune exhaled, looking out at the fairly empty grounds of Beacon Academy.

"More dangerous...or maybe just plain crazier. Ruby...Ruby cried for _days,_ and she wouldn't leave Weiss's hospital bed the whole time...I mean, you know this better than me, Pyrrha. You were the one who got her back on her feet." Jaune smiled warmly as he continued to observe the night sky. The smile quickly vanished and was replaced by concern, however. "But I don't think that she forgot the grief or the anger...she just buried those feelings away so we didn't see them, temporarily. I hope I'm wrong, but...but I think Ruby's been waiting to bring those emotions out again. Against Tristen."

Pyrrha remained transfixed on Jaune, listening meticulously to every wise word he seemed to produce. It was a different side of Jaune that she rarely got to see; the usual goofy, good humoured boy replaced by an observant and analytical leader. She leaned closer in to his torso, and felt an inviting hand on her waist pull her closer and hug around her arm protectively. Pyrrha swallowed nervously and allowed her head to rest softly on his tense shoulder.

"We've seen what that...that _maniac_ can do, Jaune. What good are emotions against him? What good is _anything_ against him?" she said with a sigh.

"Those emotions - I think they might bring out something in Ruby that we haven't seen yet. Something...something that we don't _want _to see."

"...What is it?"

"Vengeance."

* * *

_This is it._

Ruby found herself in the locker room once more, just minutes before the most important battle of her life. She had requested it this way, in spite of Yang's protests; Ruby had wanted to be alone before it all started. The adrenaline was coursing through her by now, every fibre of her being was overloaded with energy and she yet again found herself in the position of constantly fidgeting and jittering, the excess of excitement practically rattling her. She had long since put on her combat attire and retrieved Crescent Rose; all that was left to do now was wait. Ruby did not excel at waiting.

A holographic digital clock on the wall blinked; aqua blue lines formed into numbers. Two minutes before Ruby had to go out there, and face _him._

_Tristen._

She felt blood rush through her cheeks, and her arms and fingers as she conjured the name in her mind. A kind of unmeasurable anger boiled and brewed inside her - and it was hungry for satisfaction.

Ruby had never wanted someone to die; her own experience with death had been one of tragedy and immense despair, and she had never willed anyone else to suffer such emotions by losing someone they loved. But today was different. Today, Ruby Rose indeed wanted someone to die.

This was Tristen. This was the boy who had brutalised Sun, who had made Penny disappear, and-

_And Weiss._

The sensation was unlike anything the young huntress had experienced before. Rage seeped through her body, extending into every limb and threatening to burst out at any second. Her breathing quickened. The constant shaking of her hands no longer represented hype or anticipation - a fury was birthing inside her. It consumed her, manipulating her thoughts as she gripped Crescent Rose with a vice-like grip that left her knuckles sheer white.

The holographic clock emitted the sound of a bell ringing, heralding that it was time to enter the stadium. And as she trudged out of the locker room without a word, throwing the door open violently, there was only one thought remaining in her head once the anger had taken control.

_Kill him. Make him dead._

_Kill Tristen._

* * *

Ren squinted as the last beams of blinding sunlight bore down on him and his companions. Another intensely warm and humid day; strange, given that it was late fall. Summer appeared unwilling to retreat this year.

To his sides were the people he had quickly come to acknowledge as his closest friends in the preceding weeks: Yang, Sun, Jaune and Pyrrha on his left, with Nora, Blake and surprisingly Velvet on his right - it was unusual for the rabbit-eared girl to have the courage to socialise with other Beacon students. Nevertheless, she had been warmly accepted by the group. Almost everyone was here today, all ready to cheer for Team RWBY's energetic leader.

_Almost _everyone. Except for two of the three people who had been brave enough to face Tristen.

Sun Wukong was here, at least. He'd fully recovered from his shocking wounds - to everybody's great relief - but he had been help up signing out of the hospital, which required an arduous amount of paper-pushing and box-ticking. Thus, he had barely arrived in time to join the group.

Penny was nowhere to be seen, and hadn't been spotted for weeks. She was a cause of concern for everyone; after her defeat at the hands of Tristen, the eccentric ginger-haired girl had vanished from all their lives entirely. It was beyond suspicious.

And finally, Weiss Schnee, the ever proud princess of Team RWBY. There had been no change in her condition; still stable, yet still in a coma. How long Weiss would be kept on life support was the question that no-one in their social group dared to even think about - let alone voice. Her absence was undoubtedly the most damaging to Ruby's morale, too...they'd grown noticeably close in the last 3 weeks or so.

Ren took note of the arena; simplicity seemed to be the theme. The circular arena was 50 metres wide - it consisted of a dark, rocky surface, with pillars of the jet-black rock intercalated across the floor. Of particular interest to Ren were four figures surrounding the arena: Professors Port and Oobleck, whom Ren recognised, along with two more hunters he did not know.

A tremendous yawn came from Ren's right, interrupting his observations.

"_Reeennnnn. _When are they going to _start_?!" Nora whined, bumping her forehead on his shoulder repeatedly. Ren sighed.

"I don't know Nora, I couldn't possibly tell you. Although, I reckon that _giant stadium clock_ over there could give you an indication that there's about, say, 14 seconds before the competitors enter the stadium."

There was a momentary pause as Nora pretended to zoom in with imaginary binoculars at the huge digital screen.

"Ooooooh. You're so clever sometimes Ren!" she replied, punching his arm a little too forcefully. He rolled his eyes in return.

"...Right. Look sharp, Nora; they're both coming out right now."

* * *

Ruby walked a few steps outward into the view of thousands of spectators. The late afternoon sun was beginning to set, casting a deep orange hue across the stands. She made a quick glance downwards; the heiress's necklace was secured around her neck, and the apple pendant remained at her chest. The delicate jewellery seemed to be a source of strength for Ruby, providing her with the determination she needed - reminding her of what she had to fight for.

She looked back up, staring across the stadium - and instantly found all the motivation she needed for this fight. She saw him for the first time in over a week.

Shoulder length black hair. Gaunt face. Disturbing eyes. Thin lips.

The monster.

Ruby felt the waves of heat roll through heir veins as fury moulded itself into one single desire.

_Kill._

She unfolded Crescent Rose right there on the spot into its full scythe form, before fiercely planting its blade into the ground, denting the stone floor. Her silver eyes stared right back into his dull, dead grey eyes. She walked menacingly slow, dragging the scythe behind her - the blade remained indented into the concrete as it trailed behind Ruby, creating a line of broken rock behind her. The watching masses murmured to each other, but she couldn't hear them - she had long since tuned the background noise out as she and Tristen approached from opposing sides of the enormous stadium, taking their places on their respective podiums. They stared each other as if their lives depended on it; both had everything to fight for. The nerve-wracking tension was palpable.

More background noise. Announcements and cheering. Ruby ignored it all. She embraced the anger which clouded her mind and focused only on one objective.

_Kill._

* * *

The clock hit zero. The transition was instant.

Ruby levelled the scythe to her side, flipped the scope up and fired the rifle. And then again. And again, and again...until the magazine was empty, she kept firing. Tristen blocked the shots with a solitary hand; the bullets decelerated and stopped in front of his palm.

Ruby knew all too well what was coming next. She dived left off her podium and down into the arena, narrowly evading the hail of her own bullets that Tristen had fired back at her. She landed with a grunt, her joints groaning under the stress of the landing. Within the blink of an eye, Ruby sped across the arena floor in a streak of rose petals. Tristen calmly dropped down into the arena, without a hint of emotion or expression on his face.

"_HyaaaAAAGGH!_" Ruby cried out as she threw herself at her prey. The young huntress channeled all her fury into her moves; she brought Crescent Rose around in an arc which collided with Tristen's broadsword. The sword vibrated under the force of the impact, but Tristen made no reaction; he looked indifferent, uncaring.

Ruby continued without another stray thought.

She swung the scythe around with momentum and swiped from above. Tristen blocked again, and an almighty _clang_ rang out through the stadium. Over and over, Ruby swung and swept Crescent Rose around with ever increasing rage - the scythe and the sword met again and again in an electrifying display of combat prowess. The melody of metallic mayhem reverberated around the stands, much to the delight of an engrossed audience. Tristen had no time to retaliate, constantly on the defensive; although he confidently blocked and neutralised every one of Ruby's assaults.

"Aww _yeahhhh! _Look at my lil' sis _go!_" Yang exclaimed enthusiastically; she fist-pumped the air in a gesture of elation. Jaune similarly joined in with the jubilation.

"This is _so _awesome! I don't even know why we were worried..._look!_ She's actually got Tristen on the _defensive _too!"_  
_

"I _know! _That freak can't even get an attack in, with the rate Ruby's going at!"

In the midst of their early celebrations, Blake shook her head fearfully; her golden eyes wide and her teeth gritted.

"This is bad..._really _bad..." said the faunus girl. Yang turned to face her, confused - as did Jaune. Blake noticed their gazes but continued without breaking her analytical stare with the arena.

"Look carefully at what's happening...Ruby might be attacking more but - b-but she's being pushed _back._"

Yang opened her mouth to retort, but stopped and gasped as she and Jaune glanced down into the arena.

Blake was right.

Ruby was attacking more fiercely than ever, not sparing a moment of mercy for her opponent as she wreaked havoc with the enormous scythe. Tristen, however, was unfazed. In fact, Ruby was constantly retreating as all of her attacks were blocked and parried by Tristen's broadsword. She was rapidly being pushed backwards towards the edge of the arena - soon, she'd have no room left to retreat into.

"And that's not all," Sun continued on from Blake continued as their friends watched on nervously, "just look at her attacks. They're _sloppy_. Ruby's barely hitting her mark...and sometimes she's missing _completely_. Add to that the fact that she's too full of blind rage to attack intellgently, and...and..."

Yang turned around to get Sun's fullest attention. "What are you sayin', Sun?! Wha- I mean, what do we _do?!_" said the blonde in a panic. Blake shook her head apologetically, gulping.

"That's...t-that's just it, Yang. There's nothing we _can_ do from here..."

Ruby yelled out and launched herself at Tristen again, panting and lethargic after a constant rampage of anger. Just like the first time, Crescent Rose hooked around and flew down in a frenzy of manoeuvres, a salvo of hatred; meeting the enemy's sword time after time. Ruby employed the use of her semblance to flash around Tristen, attacking from all angles in a flurry of blood-red petals - but her energy was sapping away from her. She failed to break through even once. Her attacks were becoming increasingly sluggish as fatigue set in; the fiery rage Ruby had trusted in just minutes ago had been a lie, as it waned and left her alone in the fight against Tristen. He blocked her desperate slashes with increasing ease; the velocity and the force of her attacks had been reduced to amatuer levels.

The match continued on this manner for several more agonising minutes; Ruby's friends watched on from above as she threw useless, furious swipes at her opponent in a tragic display. Nothing even came close to damaging his aura.

Seconds ticked by and rolled into minutes, until the clock read fifteen minutes - a quarter of an hour of indignation left the red huntress crippled by her own indignation and exhaustion.

Finally, Ruby could heft the huge scythe no more, in spite of all her effort. Her muscles had given up; she had no power left in her arms to swing the scythe around. She cried out and managed to half-lift the scythe, using her whole body even just to manage a pitifully slow swing. Tristen barely had to step to the side to avoid it, as he paced closer; reminiscent of a venomous snake closing in for the kill.

Ruby yelled and forced herself to drag the heavy weapon and scrape it along the ground in a desperate attempt at Tristen's ankles. He merely stepped over the blade and drew closer to the young huntress.

Ruby was leaning on her scythe for support as her body failed to support its own weight. She felt intense pain lance through her face, as Tristen delivered a punch into her cheek. Ruby staggered backwards with the impact, only to receive another hit - a left hook smacked into her other cheek, sending her reeling and separated from Crescent Rose, which fell down onto the blackened earth. Ruby barely managed to keep her footing - but yet another physical assault came her way as Tristen's fist slammed into her stomach.

Ruby collapsed to the ground as throbbing, nauseating pain arose in her face and torso.

"Ruby! _RUBY!_" Yang shouted out desperately as she fixed her widened eyes on the stadium screen. Ruby's aura was green, just barely - but this was far enough. The match needed to end, fast.

Perhaps sensing this, the four hunters who had stood guard around the arena moved inwards in synchronisation; their combined weapons were levelled at Tristen and their message was clear.

_That's enough._

The message didn't seem to have the intended effect.

Tristen snarled and raised his hand malevolently.

"Nobody..._nobody..._will interrupt my reclamation."

Blake got to her feet with a perplexed expression. The rest of the group joined her in standing, transfixed on the ordeal playing out far below.

It took several seconds for anyone to speak in their collective stunned silence.

"_Reclamation? _What is he _talking_ abo-"

Nora was interrupted by a ear-splitting _crack_ which boomed out from the arena, accompanied by a shockwave of air which forced everyone backwards into their seats. Members of the crowd screamed out instinctively, covering the sides of their head and ducking down. Blake and Velvet screamed out as their delicate faunus hearing was left ringing from the noise. Yang's reflex seemed to be to immediately protect Blake's ears as she grasped her partner's head and curled around it.

"_What the hell was that?!" _somebody shrieked from behind. Yang raised her head with gritted teeth to discover the answer. Her jaw dropped upon what her lilac eyes saw.

All four of the hunters who had stood guard were slumped on the stadium floor near the stands, as opposed to around the arena where they had been mere moments earlier. Unconscious or dead - it wasn't clear. What was clear was that they were motionless, eliminated by some horrific means; by Tristen.

With the remaining threats to his tyranny eliminated, Tristen turned back to Ruby slowly.

Ruby poured every last ounce of energy she had into attempting to stand up; instead, she dropped to her knees with sheer exhaustion, tears welling up in her eyes.

_I fought like an idiot. _

_Like Tristen would fight...just angry and hollow. I let emotion get the better of me._

_I've failed myself, and I've failed my friends._

_I failed you, Weiss. I'm so, so sorry._

She looked up through watery, silver eyes as Tristen brandished the broadsword in his right hand, and rested the tip of the blade upon her neck.

"With my newly rediscovered power, I...I have become _untouchable. _Starting with _you_...I can take back...what was _stolen from me-_"

"_NO!_" Yang screamed out, interrupting Tristen; she was racing down the steps and vaulted over the railings. Blake was hot on her tail in support; the two huntresses sprinted across open ground towards the arena to rescue the brawler's little sister.

Within seconds, they were just yards away from reaching her.

There was a second, piercing _crack_.

Blake skidded to her knees whilst wincing in agony and clutching her ears, just managing to catch Yang who had been the target of the shockwave. The blonde flew back into Blake's arms and the two crashed onto the cold ground painfully, looking up at the darkening sky above.

Blake clawed her way over the floor to frantically check over her partner. Yang was conscious but stunned; her eyes were erratic and flickering rapidly.

"Yang?! Yang _please, get up! Ruby needs us! YANG!_" Blake frantically whispered between short breaths, trying to raise Yang to her feet. But her blonde partner was dazed and in pain; the two of them laid next to each other, with no-one left to stand in Tristen's way. The others were rushing down the stands, but they were too slow - too far away to get here in time. Blake Belladonna felt powerless as she watched on in dread.

Tristen returned his attention to Ruby.

"It has been _far too easy_...to reclaim my _rightful __victory_ over Weiss. In the end, it's so clear to me now...all I had to do to defeat her...was kill _you._" he spoke softly. The words chilled Ruby to core of her bones whilst the hairs on her neck rose. Ruby closed her eyes.

There was no time to say goodbye.

It was time to die.

In these last, fleeting moments, she tried to think of something happy...something she'd be proud to remember, and be remembered for.

She thought of the her and Weiss's match. The joy she had felt, and the connection she'd experienced...it was the best memory she could hope to go out thinking of. She drew in her final breath, fixated on that one, solitary memory. Tristen drew back his sword arm, the blade aimed at her throat.

Blake screamed out.

Tristen lunged the sword at Ruby's neck.


	17. A World of Bloody Evolution

The world was pitch black.

An eternity of nothingness, with no concept of beginning or end, stretched and contorted around the young girl.

Or at least, that was what Ruby saw. There was no colour, no light, nothing - just harrowing, bleak darkness.

Was this death?

Or was this what came after...the afterlife? If it was, and this was where Ruby had to spend the rest of eternity...it sure was _dull_. What a disappointment.

It was freezing, too; the air became dramatically colder as each second passed by. She felt the chilly winds brushing over the skin of her arms.

_Wait. __What?_

_Skin?_

_ Arms?_

Ruby came to the realisation that she had her eyes scrunched shut. She anxiously made the effort to open her eyelids, and a stream of glistening light came into view as a blurry mess at first.

Through her blotted vision, she observed her surroundings. A sky filled with gloomy, grey clouds loomed overhead. She could just barely discern that she was surrounded by stands, filled with onlookers...

Ruby snapped to her senses.

Of course - she was just about to be killed. By Tristen.

She'd heard screaming...Blake. It had been Blake. But where was Tristen? And more importantly - why was she still alive?

The scythe-wielder blinked rapidly to sharpen her view.

Tristen was on the floor several feet away, groaning and gradually getting back on his feet. The broadsword he wielded was separated from him, lying on blackened earth that reminded Ruby of volcanic ash. It took even longer for her to realise that there were no screams in the audience - and that something hovered in the air before her: a luminous white disk seemed to have blossomed right in front of Ruby, dividing her and her opponent.

_A hologram?_

Ruby's mind raced as to what a hologram was doing in the middle of the arena. The disk being holographic was the only logical explanation. And yet, this bright silver emblem seemed far too familiar - the design, the patterning...

_It can't be..._

* * *

Blake winced and clutched onto Yang tightly, tears streaming down her cheek as she clung to her blonde partner. She stayed this way for several gripping seconds; sobbing onto Yang's shoulder, Blake could perhaps pretend none of this was real for just a few moments longer. Pretend it was a nightmare.

With the greatest reluctance, Blake finally raised her head and opened golden, watery eyes to take in whatever abhorring sight was present in the arena.

Blake gasped.

Ruby was kneeling, head bowed...but remained unharmed.

Some kind of shining wheel had materialised between Ruby and Tristen, separating them - with the latter of the two now hunched over on the ground, separated from his weapon.

Blake knew that glistening emblem.

But it wasn't possible. It just _couldn't _be.

She shook Yang to bring her out of her nausea.

"Yang, look..._look at that._" Blake whispered, supporting the brawler with one arm whilst pointing with the other. Yang swayed a little, lavender eyes just beginning to focus as she groggily sat up from the ground. Rubbing her eyes and remembering where she was and what was happening, Yang jolted and got to her feet.

"Ruby! Where is she?! Blake, we've _got_ to get in there and-" Yang paused mid-sentence and squinted at her intact little sister. She observed the vivid, shimmering object with curiosity - a barrier between the two competitors.

"Uhh, Blake? Is...i-is that-"

"I think it is..."

"But _that's not possible_-"

"I...I know, but...b-but it's definitely there..."

* * *

Ruby stood up from where she kneeled, examining the radiant glyph. The pattern was elegant: it was the stencil of a snowflake, surrounded by a circle, glittering before her. There was only one way such a beautiful glyph could have appeared.

Ruby grinned a great, toothy grin.

Tristen clambered to his feet, growling and swiping his broadsword from the floor beneath him. His head was spinning, dizzy from whatever had prevented the execution...whatever had disrupted his reclamation. He turned maliciously on the spot to face the red huntress, gripping the hilt of his blade tight with white knuckles, his rage unmatched.

His stony grey eyes widened within an instant.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight.

As if he had witnessed the supernatural.

He staggered backwards as his jaw hung open - unbelieving.

"_N-no...no. _This - this _can't...this isn't possible..._"

Tristen's voice trailed off into whimpering, fixated with terror on the glyph before him. Ruby picked up where he had left off, as the glyph disappeared mysteriously.

"Weiss?"

Ruby swivelled her head around, searching for a glimpse of the alabaster hair...but failed to spot her.

A startling, frightened war cry from Tristen grabbed her attention.

As she turned back around, she noticed her opponent raising his hand once more; from his side, a pillar of obsidian rock was ripped out of the earth and accelerated towards her. The mass hit her square on - she was catapulted backwards in agony, landing in a pile of rocky debris at the far side of the arena. Yang cried out instinctively.

"_Ruby!_" she shouted - sprinting from where she stood towards her younger sister. She saw a deft movement of Tristen's hand just moments too late, and she collided with some kind of barrier. Yang gathered her bearings and growled, punching into what seemed to be an invisible concrete wall. It was as if she had met with a window of air - a window that she could not penetrate.

"Let me through! _Let me through, you freak!_" Yang yelled at Tristen. Her eyes were becoming fiery red, and scorching flames licked around her ankles and legs menacingly. Tristen seemed oblivious to the threats, apparently focused only on her sister. Yang snapped - bursts of blinding, white-hot fire erupted around her as she threw powerful fists into the barrier of air.

Blake gritted her teeth as she watched from the floor; Yang's stunning display of brute strength seemed to bend the invisible wall, straining it...but failing to pierce through. Yang yelled out in rage as her attempts were foiled, but stood silently watching as she noticed movement under the debris.

An entire array of immense boulders shot out from the debris, hurled at Tristen - he dived desperately to evade.

From within the dusty fog of the debris, came Ruby.

She casually walked out of the rubble with flickering, silver glyphs accompanying her every footstep.

"Hey. Tristen." Ruby called out. Her opponent faced her, wide-eyed and frantic. "That was a good warmup and all, but...I'd like to get the _real_ fight started now, okay?"

"I have...I have had, _enough! _Enough of...of whatever this power is! I just...I _just don't understand..._who _are you?!_"

"Ruby." said the young huntress confidently.

The wintery weather around her grew stronger - the whistling winds became howling gales, and fleets of snowflakes and hailstones seemed to race and curl around her, a storm under her command.

"My name is Ruby. And there's only thing you need to understand. Unlike you...I'm not fighting alone."

"What? I d-don't - _what do you mean?!_" Tristen's reply struggled through chattering teeth as sleet and hail bore down upon him.

"I've got _Weiss _on my side!"

Tristen recoiled and winced upon the mention of the name, his teeth clenched in half-fury, half-terror.

"I d-don't believe it...I _won't_ believe it..."

Ruby sniggered as she waved her right hand gracefully.

In response to her will, a plethora of elegant, shimmering glyphs materialised around her.

"Well, you'd better _start_ believing it..."

* * *

Blake and Yang were joined by the members of Team JNPR and Sun Wukong at their side, standing at the periphery of Tristen's 'invisible wall'. The band of friends were unable to intervene...and yet, all were mesmerised by Ruby's impossible power.

Ruby collected her scythe calmly from her side, and planted its blade into the ground dramatically with a grin. A shaken and sickly pale Tristen trembled momentarily, before he was consumed by his own rage - and he lurched at the taunt.

With a panicked hand movement, he summoned a car-sized boulder from behind him and launched the projectile towards the red huntress. Ruby's reaction was impeccably fast - with an outstretched palm she conjured another of the dazzling glyphs. The mass of rock collided violently with the glyph; it relented, and the boulder splintered into pebbles which rained onto the blackened earth.

Tristen raised his shaking hand and clumsily swung in an arc at his side; an even more colossal rock began to lurch towards Ruby, scraping across the jagged ground. She crouched and swept her hand around her feet - the resultant glyph launched Ruby high into the wintery air, her crimson cape floating in the wind as she easily evaded the second boulder.

Ruby gently returned to the ground, stepping down a staircase of glittering glyphs. She leapt from the last towards Tristen - time to counterattack.

She swung the scythe around at his midsection; Tristen blocked, but barely had time to prepare as Ruby smoothly whirled around with a leap and brought an overhead swipe down towards him - a desperate, shaky swing of his broadsword managed to spare him of the wrath of Crescent Rose.

Ruby herself held no wrath, however. The fury she had felt, brewed with an intoxicating mix of her guilt and her fear, had been vanquished from within her, as if swept away by a storm.

The young huntress felt her own true self coming back to her, the childishness and the innocence - and what it meant to fight with dignity and honour, how a true huntress won.

The same creed Weiss fought with.

_Weiss_.

Ruby smirked.

_I still think I could teach you a thing or two..._

_But I guess that'll have to wait for now!_

She threw herself back into the fray once more. Ruby remembered the basics; momentum, attack, deflect, counterattack. It was all so simple at its heart. It was just like dancing to her.

The exchange of attacks between the two competitors continued as Ruby's friends cheered her on from the sidelines, in contrast to the hundreds of spectators who had fallen silent and watched in awe as scythe and broadsword met again and again in the heat of the battle.

Finally, the two weary contenders broke off momentarily, panting for air. Ruby's heart was pounding, her muscles were throbbing and the pain in her cracked palms pulsated.

And she felt so _alive_.

She chuckled as she wiped the sweat from her grimy forehead, standing straight once more as she stared back at her livid opponent.

"You're not too bad, Tristen...for a _boy_."

Tristen moved a bang of hair out of his eye, baring his teeth like an animal as he threw his sword away to her surprise. He stretched his fingers and directed his palms downwards towards the rocky ground beneath them.

"I...will _not lose_...to the likes of _YOU!_" Tristen screeched as he scrunched his hands. The very ground beneath them cracked and crumbled into jagged blades of sheer rock. They levitated, thousands of them, into the air.

Ruby knew all to well what was coming.

She dashed away with her semblance in a cloud of rose petals - just as the sharp rocks accelerated towards her.

In a split second, she realised she had reached the edge of the arena, with nowhere left to run or hide. She span on her heel, gasping; there were too many to block with glyphs.

She covered her face with arms and braced.

But nothing hit her.

A freezing wave of bitterly cold air had ripped through the arena.

She opened her eyes and looked up to see the rocks falling out of the air...each one coated in a thick layer of ice.

Hundreds upon hundreds of the tiny stone projectiles fell to the floor, harmless.

She took a few cautious steps forward, the frozen pebbles crunching under her boots. She looked around the arena with wonder, as the volcanic environment had been transformed within an instant into something beautiful - the ground was blanketed by glistening snow dunes. And before her, her opponent was suspended above the earth motionless.

Encased within a coffin of aquamarine ice.

"Ruby..."

Ruby gasped and swivelled, trying to find the source of that familiar voice.

"Weiss? Weiss, where are you? If you're out there..."

No reply came to her, much to Ruby's disappointment. Instead, Ruby felt as if the presence was within her head...and made her have complete, unwavering trust in the swirling, circling hurricane which was rapidly forming around her.

She felt her cape flying wildly behind her in the growing cyclone, and in any other situation, she would have been scared of the storm - but this one was here to aid her. Somehow, she just _knew it._

Ruby relaxed, and with her arms outstretched and Crescent Rose clutched in her left hand, she closed her eyes and fell backwards into the side of the twister. She was swept from her feet - felt the winds carry her round and around, higher and higher, even as she heard the startled shouting of her close friends from far below.

As if carried by wings, Ruby soared upwards in a helix and reached the apex of the tornado, where faint moonlight shone upon her. Within the moment, she knew exactly why she'd been brought up here.

This was how she would finish off Tristen and win.

_Thanks Weiss_.

Ruby clutched her beloved scythe and dived downwards towards the arena below.

The wind streaked through her hair as she accelerated like a bullet towards the glacial floor - she front flipped as she descended, bringing Crescent Rose into a downwards arc...

An almighty _crunch_ echoed throughout the stadium as the tip of the scythe's blade pierced through the solid floor of ice and snow. Ruby saved herself from the fall with a last-second glyph, and she rolled away from the impact intact.

Like forks of lightning, immense cracks shot outwards from the point of the scythe's impact. The ice was rapidly creaking and splitting; Blake, Yang and the rest of the onlookers watched with unwavering attention as entire chunks of frozen earth fractured across the arena. The cracks spread out within seconds - and began to form around a trapped Tristen's icy cocoon.

The ice finally gave in, and fragmented like a broken mirror. Fifty square metres of glacier shattered across the entire arena.

Tristen fell from his mid-air prison...and fell to the floor, unconscious.

Ruby blinked as she climbed to her feet in disbelief.

She had won.

* * *

Ruby Rose wasn't sure what hit her harder.

The deafening roar and applause of a relieved crowd, delighted with the defeat of a terrifying menace who had potentially threatened the lives of all today.

The bone-crushing bear hug from her big blonde sister who sobbed obsessively and squealed incoherent compliments at Ruby.

Or the simple, hard fact that Ruby had _won. _She had defeated _Tristen_. She had kept her all important, unspoken vow to herself and to Weiss.

Regardless of which was most startling, Ruby could barely take in this moment, let alone comprehend it. Right at this instant, was something she would never forget, _ever_. This was the day she had faced the worst of all her problems...and come out on top, victorious.

_And I couldn't have done it without you...Weiss._

"...and I j-just - I j-just c-can't - c-can't believe m-my l-l-little sister won, and that y-you're _okay_! I love y-you so _much_ Ruby Rose, and d-don't you forget it!" Yang stopped mid-way through her tear-filled speech to try compose herself. Frankly, this was a little embarrassing for the both of them. "I was - I w-was so _scared_ for you, sitting on the sidelines, and - and all I c-could do was _watch_ my poor b-baby sister-"

"Okay okay okay! Hehe...Yang, I'm _fine_! See?!" Ruby said whilst giggling, trying to squirm out of her overprotective big sister's embrace. Yang seemed to make a conscious effort to calm down, as she released Ruby and nodded.

The tears of joy and worry continued to rush down Yang's face, nevertheless. Blake smirked, shaking her head as she wiped some of the droplets from her face with a handkerchief.

"Good grief, check out _big, tough Yang_...reduced to tears like this..." Blake muttered, much to Ruby's amusement. From her peripheral vision, she saw Jaune and his team anxiously approaching. She turned to greet them.

"Hey there Rubes...you really had us worried there!" Jaune said, scratching the back of his head nervously. Ren and Pyrrha seemed to nod in agreement. "But you gave it your all, and I mean, you won! That's, uh...pretty cool! Right, guys? Guys?"

"Thanks, Jaune." Ruby replied with a grin. Jaune's awkwardness never ceased to amaze. Pyrrha took the opportunity to pose a question which had been on everyone's minds.

"Speaking of 'giving it your all', Ruby...how...how did you do all those things? You know, those things with th-"

"I don't know, Pyrrha...I honestly don't..."

Technically that wasn't a lie. Ruby knew who had given her the power to do so. But how...how was another question. One which she could even begin to fathom.

"That was quite the battle, Miss Rose..."

Ruby turned to face the familiar voice which had just arrived.

"Thank you, Professor Ozpin, sir." she replied politely with a smile. Ozpin was not smiling back however; he seemed out of breath, as if he had hurried to get here.

"Sir? Are you oka-"

"Ruby...we must all get to the hospital. _Immediately._"

Ruby felt sick in an instant, anticipating what he was going to say. The joy she had felt moments ago drained from her.

"It's your partner, Weiss Schnee. She's fading. Fast."

* * *

Ruby clutched onto Yang's waist as both of them struggled to see through their wildly flustered hair. Yang was pushing her motorcycle _Bumblebee_ to its limit - she ran through red lights, the tyres screeching and smoking as they raced through the traffic-filled streets of downtown Vale. Yang swerved violently, barely avoiding a serious collision - and zipped through yet another alleyway, using it as a makeshift shortcut.

The two sisters had accelerated far ahead of the others in order to reach the hospital as fast as physically possible...primarily at Ruby's panicked demand. They had left the stadium just five minutes earlier, and courtesy of Yang's near-lethal driving, they were closing in on the hospital in record time.

Whether it would be fast enough was the question that was just about giving Ruby a panic attack.

"_Hold on!_" shouted Yang over the astonishing din of the engine. The blonde raced around yet another sharp turn, the bike leaning so far over that Ruby's knee practically scraped along the tarmac. The motorcycle straightened up as they tore off down the main street, zig-zagging between startled drivers and pedestrians alike.

"There! Take _that _exit!" Ruby yelled desperately, daring to lift on hand up to point out a right turn. Yang nodded and followed her advice. They sped round, and the hospital was within sight.

"_Brake!_" Ruby shouted into her sister's ear. With another deafening screech, _Bumblebee _came to a halt outside the hospital entrance. Ruby jumped off in one deft movement, and disappeared in a trail of rose petals into the hospital, leaving Yang to park the motorcycle. Ruby dashed left and right, up staircases and across busy wards, navigating her way towards Weiss's room like a homing missile. Another left...another hallway...

Ruby burst into her partner's hospital room, gasping for breath.

A single, solitary faunus nurse was checking over some of the machines, which displayedd the slowly diminishing vital signs.

Ruby looked around. No family had arrived for Weiss.

_Unbelievable. Unacceptable. Unforgivable._

Ruby ran over to Weiss's side. She was a saddening sight.

Weiss was paler than ever; her skin was not far from the shade of her brilliant white hair, and she looked even thinner than usual. Ruby reached out and clasped her hand around her partner's; Weiss's hand was shockingly cold, and Ruby almost recoiled. She held on however.

_What do I do? What can I do?!_

Ruby's mind raced frantically, her eyes darting from the bleeping monitors to Weiss's closed eyes. The tears were already rushing down her rosy cheeks as she searched her mind for any solution to this nightmare.

"W-Weiss..._please, p-pleaseeee...wake up..._" Ruby whimpered through the sniffling. The nurse stood back, solemn and upset at the sight before her; one she'd seen too many times before in her career.

The death of a loved one.

Ruby clung to Weiss's arm, resting her forehead on her partner's and pleading with a whisper.

"_P-please Weiss. W-wake up...I need y-you..._"

No reply.

Ruby gulped and sobbed into her partner's shoulder. She felt her whole world shattering around her. This was it.

_Nothing matters. Not after this._

Ruby scrunched her eyes, as she tried to focus as hard as she could as she gripped onto Weiss's hand as hard as she could, savouring the last bit of heat from her partner's hand. She strained her mind more and more, trying her best to reach the pinnacle of her focus, and directing that focus on her partner. Ruby wished as hard as she could for any luck, prayed in her head to any and every god.

Because she only had one idea left.

* * *

Weiss was sinking.

Something like that.

There was no water. Nor was there land.

There seemed to be no air, no light, no gravity - nothing. Absolute and total absence of anything.

This new realm of darkness frightened Weiss. The only _thing_ which seemed to co-exist with her in this realm was a presence which pulled at her from behind - dragging her 'downwards', wherever 'down' was. She could not escape its grasp, the invasive tendrils of _something_ which seemed to grip her legs, her arms and her waist, pulling her closer and closer to what she could only assume was a harrowing nothingness.

_Purgatory?_

Maybe.

Maybe she deserved that.

_Was it all worth it?_

_I've given whatever I had left to Ruby...to ensure her victory and survival._

_Ruby..._

_Of course it was worth it._

At least it was a nice thought to go out on. Weiss had never thought about dying, or mortality. It always seemed like an concept for fully grown adults. And yet, here she was. Drifting into non-existence.

Still, the thought of Ruby Rose...a hyperactive, naive, foolish, clumsy, wonderful girl.

_Not a bad memory to go out thinking of._

Weiss relaxed, no longer resisting 'the pull'.

She let herself sink. Memories, emotions, thought...all began to disappear into the blackness.

Weiss watched in awe as _something_ cut through the never-ending darkness before her.

A blinding, crimson sun.

It was the most beautiful sight Weiss had ever seen; the contrast between endless shadows and this new, red dawn. The beams of scarlet light tore through the sea of darkness; the red beams shot through the night and seemed to eliminate the pulling presence beneath her. A shining crimson tendril seemed to reach out to her like a hand pulling her out of the ocean.

Weiss didn't want to drown.

Not here. Not when there was hope.

She reached out desperately towards the hand; gripped tightly onto this rose-coloured light and waited.

It pulled her, towards the beautiful red light.

But instead of despair, Weiss felt something she had long since given up on.

_Hope._

* * *

A short gasp.

Ruby had heard it. There was no mistaking it.

_Could it be? Could it really be...it worked?_

She glanced up and watched with her jaw slightly open.

Watched as those bright blue eyes fluttered open, squinting in the bright light of the real world.

Ruby paused momentarily in complete, total shock.

Weiss was alive, and awake.

Ruby got to her feet and tried to scream with joy, to frantically welcome her beloved partner back into reality...but the energy wasn't there. For the first time in her life, Ruby Rose was out of energy and felt herself nauseated with exhaustion. Her vision faded into black as she collapsed towards the floor.

As she fell, Ruby heard it: what she'd been waiting so long to hear.

"_...R-Ruby? Ruby!_"

* * *

Ruby opened her eyes slowly, groaning as she instantly felt the mother of all migraines raging inside her head.

"You are _such_ a dunce..."

Ruby swung her head up upon recognising the voice. That was when she saw her.

Weiss.


	18. Vitality

"...And _such_ a child." the heiress added. Ruby rubbed her eyes and blinked to clear her groggy vision. There was no mistaking it, yet she could still scarcely believe it: Weiss Schnee herself, standing at Ruby's side with her hands on her hips as she chided the red huntress.

"...Weiss?"

Weiss's hair had been pruned back into its usual style: the alabaster strands of hair pinned into a ponytail on the back-right of her head, hanging far past her shoulder. In contrast to her elegantly prepared hairstyle was her attire - a dull blue hospital gown stretched from her shoulders to her knees. Looking down at herself, Ruby noticed she was dressed in an identical gown.

_Why am I in a hospital bed?_

"Honestly, what a _silly_ thing to do. Do you have any idea how _dangerous_ that little stunt of yours was? And _I'm _supposed to be the one getting bed rest..._hmph!_ Not as long as I've got _you_ to babysit, that's for sure."

Weiss furrowed her brow as she stared down at Ruby, like a parent with a misbehaving child.

_Just tell her, Weiss...tell her you're happy to see her. This isn't hard._

"Ahem...well. It will be nice to have the team...back to full strength. Once you and I have recovered and signed out of here, we can- _oof!_"

Weiss felt winded as Ruby flung her arms around her and hugged even harder than Yang could; the warmth of her partner's body pressed onto her front all of a sudden, and the blood washed through Weiss's reddening cheeks. She tentatively returned the embrace with a couple nervous pats on Ruby's back.

"_I missed you too, Weiss_." Ruby whispered with a sigh. The heiress felt her face glowing an even more alarming shade of red than Ruby's crimson cape. After several tense seconds the two separated, with a flustered Weiss trying to maintain her composure.

She cleared her throat awkwardly, turned sharply on her heel, and scurried off. Almost a minute later, the heiress briskly returned with some kind of flashlight, having managed to reset herself back to her usual icy demeanor.

"Sit up, Ruby. Since the medical staff here are so disorganised, it looks like I'll have to check if you're improving."

"Uh...improving? Weiss...what's going o-"

Weiss shushed Ruby with a dismissive wave of her hand, and leaned over to shine the flashlight into her eyes. Weiss examined her partner's irises with laser-like focus. The heiress then covered one of Ruby's eyes and shined the light in the other. Seemingly satisfied, she leant back and pocketed the flashlight in her gown, crossing her arms as she took a seat by Ruby's bed.

"Your pupillary light reflex is fine. Look over here. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Umm...three?"

Weiss nodded. "You had a nasty bump with the floor. I suspect you were concussed and knocked unconscious. The doctors came by quickly..._for once._ Have I told you about the staff in this hospital? _Terrible_, Ruby, just terrible; I had to wait _fifteen minutes_ for a coffee once. Can you believe that?!"

Ruby raised her eyebrows in mock surprise.

"Whatever. Well, after they dragged you off the floor, they got you one of these _repulsive_ gowns and your very own hospital bed next to mine. Hence, you got an overnight stay, and here you are...although none of this would have happened if _you _hadn't pulled of that little trick of yours..."

Ruby frowned, puzzled. "Little...trick?"

Weiss raised her eyebrows, that familiar all-knowing look on her face.

"Oh come now. I was in a coma for over a week, showing no signs of ever waking. And then, within a few minutes of your arrival, I _wasn't _in a coma. The medical staff are _more than a little confused,_ Ruby Rose. Not that I'm...not grateful, of course..." Weiss trailed off, somewhat apologetic looking.

"Still, using your own aura to bring me from back from the brink? That was _incredibly_ dangerous, Ruby. _Very irresponsible_. But...also very flattering. Thank you. Very much." The heiress finished with an uncharacteristic warm smile.

Ruby nodded and returned the smile.

"I...I won, Weiss."

"I know. The others told me all about it..."

"The others?" Ruby cocked her head.

"They came by not long after you bumped your head. They were rather too excitable...still, there'll be plenty of time to catch up with them later. They did tell me, however...about how _he_ was going to execute you." Weiss frowned and glared into her lap, unaware of her own clenched fists. "If I could get within a mile of him..."

"Then you'd kick his butt! Just like I did, right?" Ruby exclaimed enthusiastically. Weiss glanced over and chuckled.

"Right. _S__omething _along those lines. You'll be glad to know, however, that Tristen is being held in custody in one of the most expensive and well guarded prisons in all of Remnant...so we might not _have_ to 'kick his butt', Red."

Ruby smiled again, and silence fell between the two companions. Weiss had a hunch about what her partner was thinking about; because she was asking herself the same question.

"Weiss...when I was fighting Tristen...something - something happened. I don't know how...and I don't know why, but...uhm..."

"My glyphs." Weiss said sternly. She stood from her chair and paced over to the window. Gentle beams of grey light streamed in from an overcast morning, and fell upon her pale face as she leaned on the windowsill. "You were able to use my glyphs...my semblance. And a winter storm came to help you out too, I heard..."

Ruby slid off her bed and sauntered across the clinical, laminate floor to join Weiss at the window. A cool, autumn breeze greeted the two of them.

"I just don't know how I...how you_..._how _we_ did it..."

"Truth be told, Ruby...neither do I."

Ruby turned to her partner, confused. Weiss noticed her perplexed expression.

"Ruby, I just don't remember...at least, not _entirely._ I remember feeling...feeling as if you were in need, and I just _concentrated_. It's...a lot like a dream. Even though it wasn't long ago, the details just...fade away..." Weiss trailed off, her crystal blue eyes looking up into the clouds._  
_

Silence fell once more. But it felt natural - pleasant, even.

"I don't care how." Ruby said quietly.

Weiss turned to look at her, curious. Ruby followed suit and held eye contact with the heiress.

"What matters is that you did it. You saved my life, Weiss..." Ruby said in almost a whisper.

Weiss smiled meekly, blushing a little.

"_And you saved mine, Ruby_."

Ruby felt her heartbeat flutter and quicken, as she felt herself naturally leaning in towards her partner.

Weiss copied her like a mirror image; leant her head towards Ruby's as her eyelids covered over those beautiful blue eyes. Ruby shut her eyes too, bracing herself.

Their lips met at last.

* * *

**EPILOGUE**

* * *

Professor Ozpin stepped groggily across his rustic oak office, drawing the maroon curtains and sighing. He slumped into his grand chair, and exhaled as if he had been holding his breath for an hour.

It had been a hectic few weeks.

The Vytal Tournament was never an easy period of the year. But _this _year had been truly exhausting. The competitors this year had been a step above the rest; a quantum leap in the kind of power he was used to seeing from first year contenders.

Without a moment to rest or collect his thoughts, the Scroll on his desk winked and buzzed, alerting him to an incoming call.

_No rest for the wicked..._

Ozpin gently tapped twice on the Scroll. A holographic projection of the caller materialised in his office, and instantly he straightened up and narrowed his eyes.

Cinder Fall.

"Good evening, Ozpin."

"Evening, Cinder. I suppose we have a few points to talk about."

"Indeed." Cinder paced back and forth as she toyed with a hovering flame in her palm. Ozpin remained stoic, leant upon his cane. "Tristen has failed me. And he showed such promise...he's no longer a Fall family member, regardless. I hear he's been taken into custody, but I doubt we have anything to worry about. He won't _dare_ to blab on us..."

"I've always been a tad _disturbed_ by the way you indoctrinate your 'chosen ones' into your family name, Cinder."

Cinder scoffed and rested her hands on her hips. "Hold your judgement, _Professor._ As if the way I bring my pawns in is any different to the way _you_ indoctrinate your 'students' into your so-called _Academy_."

Ozpin remained silent. He had no answer for that remark. Cinder continued, having won that conversational battle.

"I want to know how you achieved it, Ozpin."

"Achieved _what_?"

"You know _exactly_ what I mean. That..._Ruby _girl of yours. She was right on the precipice of being killed by the boy genius Tristen...and then she used _another girl's semblance._ And then she _won_. Naturally, I'm quite interested in how you managed it; it could be useful in our stratagem-"

"I didn't do anything." Ozpin replied sternly.

"There are no secrets between us, Ozpin. We can't hope to uphold what we set out to do if we start hiding things from each oth-"

"Like I said. This...was out of my hands."

Cinder paused, curious. "Ozpin, this has never been witnessed before. _Ever._ Two people, sharing semblances...?"

"I know...trust me, Cinder. I have about as much of an idea as you do. But this kind of phenomenon...this is why we run the Vytal Tournament. This is _precisely_ why our plan was made."

"To weed out the weak, and bring out the strong...success _does_ breed success, Ozpin."

"Exactly."

The two fell silent. After several tense seconds, Cinder broke the lull in conversation.

"Regardless, it can only be useful for the larger strategy at hand. Speaking of which, I'm making my move...soon, Ozpin."

The Professor sighed and stared down into the floor.

"People are going to _die_, Cinder..._civilians._"

"And that's the price we _pay_, Ozpin!" Cinder shouted. "Whether through my name or your Academy, we find the strongest _children_ we can. And then we put them to the test so that we have _something,_ _ANYTHING_ to hold back the Grimm! Do you think I enjoy this?!"

Cinder breathed heavily, recovering from her short burst of anger.

"You _know_ we have to do this Ozpin. Or thousands more will die."

Ozpin closed his eyes, rubbing his temples with stress. He couldn't argue back - because Cinder spoke the truth.

"The general population...they have _no idea_ how fast the darkness is circling around humanity. How strained the defences of our kingdoms are against the creatures of Grimm. So you tell me, '_Professor_'. Which choice do we make? Sacrifice a few children to serve as our protectors, a few civilian fatalities to make the test real...or _sacrifice all of humanity_?"

The Headmaster of Beacon Academy did not speak a word. The eerie silence settled between them once more. Cinder sighed, collected herself, and dropped her voice back to a calmer tone.

"I've had Roman Torchwick manipulating the White Fang for some time now. Soon, they're going to attack various districts in the city of Vale, under the pretence of a 'War of Freedom'. Get your pawns ready, Ozpin - and make sure they become stronger because of this."

Ozpin sighed, and fell back into his chair. "I know. I'll make sure they do..."

Cinder nodded. "Alright then. Goodbye, Professor."

The holographic projection of Cinder Fall vanished from his office. He was alone once more.

He rested his head in his hands and closed his weary eyes.

_I never asked for this responsibility._

_To send children into mock war-zones like pawns. _

_To have them come out alive...and then send them off to the edges of the world, just to barely keep the Grimm at bay._

_But maybe I can save my conscience...maybe I can watch over a couple extraordinary souls._

_Two lives hardly balances the hundreds I've sent to death._

_If I can keep them alive long enough...maybe they'll be able to protect each other without my help._

_Maybe they'll get far away from me, from Cinder...from all of this scheming._

_I'll do it. If I can just save two of them...I might die a sane man._

_If I can just look after two souls, two vital souls bonded uniquely..._

_Red and White._

* * *

**Thank you for reading The Vytal Tournament.**

**I've had a great time creating it; I hope you enjoyed reading it too.**

**Leave a review if you'd like to say something about the fic in its completed form.**

** I'm not sure I'll ever create a 'sequel' to this fic unless there's considerable demand, so in essence, this plot line probably ends here.**

**I'll be starting a new RWBY fiction soon anyway, based on some interesting ideas I've had; you can expect it sometime this week, so stay tuned if you're interested in reading more from me.**

**Again, thank you for the continued support, it's very inspiring and helps motivate me too.**

**Horologium out!**


End file.
